Kevin O’Reilly, the link between the White House and Operation Fast and Furious, is back in America. O’Reilly abruptly left his post as director of North American Affairs for the White House National Security Staff in August 2011 when emails were found showing his knowledge of Fast and Furious.
Fast and Furious was the government gun walking operation that placed over 2,000 guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. They’ve used these guns to murder Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and over 300 Mexican citizens. No one within the Department of Justice has been held accountable for this atrocious operation.
Mr. O’Reilly refused to cooperate with the House Oversight Committee and the DOJ’s Inspector General Michael Horowitz. Both wanted to question O’Reilly about his email exchanges with William Newell, special agent in charge of the Phoenix ATF.
After those emails were made public, Mr. O’Reilly was named as the senior director of the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Programs in Iraq and shipped out shortly after. He was willing to talk to the Oversight Committee over the phone, but White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler told Chairman Darrell Issa “there is an insufficient basis to support the request to interview Mr. O’Reilly.”
Somehow an important email exchange about Fast and Furious was not enough evidence for the White House to grant an interview. IG Horowitz wanted to investigate further.
“Newell told us that he had known O’Reilly during previous field office assignments and that the two shared information about firearms trafficking issues relevant to their geographic areas of responsibility,” he wrote. “According to Newell, O’Reilly was also friends with ATF’s White House Liaison, and through that relationship O’Reilly would be included on some information-sharing between Newell and the ATF Liaison about ATF’s efforts on the Southwest Border, and that O’Reilly eventually communicated with Newell directly.”
The State Department did confirm Mr. O’Reilly is back and in another position.
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