The Obama administration is blocking a federal agent involved in the failed “Fast and Furious” gun-smuggling sting operation from publishing a book on the debacle because it would hurt agency morale, the American Civil Liberties Union charged Monday.
Special Agent John Dodson of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was told that his book would also harm the agency’s relationship with the Drug Enforcement Agency and the FBI, according to the ACLU.
In a letter to the ATF, the ACLU wrote that Dodson has a First Amendment right to write about his experience and contribute to the national dialogue on gun policy. The ATF didn’t immediately comment to the Associated Press.
Dodson worked in the Phoenix field office that in late 2009 launched ia program to allow gun-runners to buy guns that the agency hoped to follow in an effort to track Mexican gun-smuggling rings. Revelations of the “Operation Fast and Furious” program sparked outrage when one of the guns being tracked was found at the scene of a 2010 shooting death of a border agent.
[AP]