Operation Fast & Furious whistleblower Special Agent John Dodson sent a letter to Fortune Magazine through his lawyer, Robert Driscoll, and requested they retract the smears against him in Katherine Eban’s June 27 article.
Agent Dodson was the first to speak out about the operation, which allowed high powered weapons to land into the hands of already dangerous Mexican drug cartels. They are connected to the deaths of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and over 300 Mexican citizens. No one within the Department of Justice has been held accountable for the operation. Inspector General Michael Horowitz released his report last week and it proved Ms. Eban’s article was nothing more than a smear job on whistleblowers like Agent Dodson.
The day the article came out I refuted it point by point at Big Journalism.
Agent Dodson, along with other whistleblowers, have been demeaned and scrutinized by the ATF and other Department of Justice officials for speaking out about Fast & Furious. Ms. Eban’s article did nothing but repeat the lies told by the DOJ
“She portrayed those responsible for Fast and Furious as upright and punctilious but, as the IG report found, they encouraged and facilitated the sale of hundreds of weapons in support of their larger investigation,” said Mr. Driscoll.
“In early 2011, the Justice Department and ATF publicly denied any wrongdoing. Agent Dodson then came forwards and publicly affirmed the deliberate recklessness of Fast and Furious,” he said. “For that brave act he paid a significant price. Within days, certain officials within the Justice Department and ATF began a protracted campaign of harassment and intimidation against Agent Dodson to prevent the full disclosure of this operation.”
After the IG report came out Attorney General Eric Holder was quick to declare it vindicated him of any wrong doing. During Mr. Horowitz’s testimony he said it doesn’t vindicate anyone except for the whistleblowers. This includes Agent Dodson.
“Ms. Eban also concluded that the schism amongst the group was due to Agent Dodson’s and other whistleblowers’ petty grievances, and further concluded that Agent Dodson actually supported gun walking,” wrote Mr. Driscoll. “Agent Dodson became aware of those allegations after the Justice Department and ATF disclosed confidential documents in an attempt to discredit him.”
“Fortune’s article is now the public face of the Justice Department’s and ATF’s smear campaign against Agent Dodson, which he endured privately for a year and a half.”
The story needs to be retracted now. Fortune should have never published it in the first place.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.