By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com The plot thickens. Acting ATF Director Ken Melson has agreed to talk to Senate investigators about Operation Fast and Furious, the ATF program that encouraged gun dealers to sell to straw purchasers so federal agents could trace them to the Mexican cartels , according to The Daily Beast and Newsweek. The…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com On Monday, on the 10th day of deliberations, a federal jury hammered ex-Gov. Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich in his retrial, finding him guilty on 17 of 20 counts, according to CNN. The jury found him not guilty on one count of bribery and deadlocked on two counts of attempted extortion. A…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com And now comes another story of the absurd involving the Transportation Security Administration, the folks who protect our airports. The News Herald reports that a woman filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security after her 95-year-old mother, who is suffering from leukemia and in a wheelchair, was detained and…
Vincent Cefalu is a special agent with ATF. His column is in response to a column authored by ex-ATF official James Cavanaugh, who said appointing an ATF director by presidential appointment isn’t working. Cavanaugh said the appointment should be made by the umbrella agency — the Justice Department. By Vincent A. Cefalu For ticklethewire.com I…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com The FBI has gotten plenty pats on the back for capturing Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger, who had been on the run for 16 years and was a long-time snitch for the bureau. But the capture has dredged up plenty of old wounds — the fact that the FBI protected Bulger…
By The New York Times Editorial Page Republicans and Democrats are championing bills to further militarize the prosecution of terrorists, beyond anything even President George W. Bush proposed. They want Americans to believe the legislation will keep the country safer. In fact, these bills could end up tying the hands of F.B.I. agents and other…
By Allan Lengel tickletheire.com A U.S. Secret Service officer from Maryland is suing the an Oklahoma narcotics agent as a result of a 2008 raid at his home in a multi-state steroids probe, the Tulsa World reported. Lester Blount Jr. of Prince Georges County, Md., whose job is to protect federal buildings and functions, is…
By Katherine Q. Seelye The New York Times From an early age, Catherine Elizabeth Greig knew the life of a moll. By about 20, she had married a Boston firefighter named Bobby McGonagle, joining a family with close ties to a gang that was part of the Irish mafia in their South Boston neighborhood. Violence…
