ATF Agent John Dodson: Fast and Furious Was a F*ck-Up


Former ATF Agent John Dodson was one of the chief whistleblowers on Operation Fast and Furious, a covert program that channeled over 2000 U.S. gun store guns to Mexican drug thugs. In 2011, Dodson told Congress that ATF bosses told agents monitoring these illegal guns to “stand down” and let the guns “walk.” Dodson’s cashing-in on his insider knowledge of Fast and Furious with a new book The Unarmed Truth. Americans looking for the unvarnished truth about the stingless ATF sting should look away now. The excerpt published in The New York Post offer no new insights into the extra-legal activities of an Obama administration agency gone rogue. In fact, it reveals Dodson as a mindless minion of a program whose rationale remains hidden by an Attorney General who remains in power, despite a citation for contempt of Congress. Here’s a taste . . .





Clearly, Dodson knew what he was doing was wrong. Clearly, he knew that the ATF was doing sweet FA to keep track of the illegally purchased weapons, violating standard law enforcement protocols for “stings.” And yet he did it “month after month.” Never questioning his superiors. Or so we are led to believe. Even after his boss, ATF F&F case officer Hope MacAllister, called off a major potential bust,






And . . . that’s it. Dodson leaves readers with the impression that MacAllister’s excuse, while “outrageous,” was genuine. I don’t think so. Not as it’s part of a pattern of not doing squat about any of the gun smugglers. I repeat, there was not ONE SINGLE ARREST during the 10 months that Fast and Furious was in full swing (ended only after a Mexican rip crew murdered Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry with a Fast and Furious firearm).




You can’t make this s–t up!

Back-up. Dodson just said the ATF “coerced” gun dealers to sell guns to known criminals. Never mind his grand theory that it’s all the FBI’s fault. That is completely outrageous and deserves a full investigation. The how, when, where, who and what of it.

Most importantly of all, why? Why was the DEA, FBI, ATF (and the rest) in the business of gun smuggling? As a low level ATF Agent with no apparent curiosity, Dodson’s excerpt offers no explanation. He paints Operation Fast and Furious as a genuine law enforcement goals stymied by administrative sloth and incompetence.

Judging from the excerpt, the book comes down on the side of the adage “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” Dodson makes the point with a story about illegally purchased guns equipped with a GPS tracker that are lost to Agents due to bureaucratic inefficiency.




Someone answered, “Negative.”


There he is again: Hope MacAllister. And once again, the F&F jefe somehow manages to screw things up. Accidentally on purpose? If so, Dodson ain’t saying.

In short, The Unarmed Truth provides ammunition for administration apologists and obfuscators looking to disarm critics of Operation Fast and Furious. This real story behind a government conspiracy to arm vicious criminals—and/or monumental f-up by an amoral federal agency (or five)—remains to be told.


  1. avatar MotoJB says:

    It was a f**k up? Wow, what a news flash. 😉

    1. avatar John F says:

      Now Remember if you want to buy a gun you have to fill out the ATFE paper work,
      So they can KEEP the Guns out of the hands of CRIMINALS …
      Unintended Consequences , by, John Ross

    2. avatar C says:

      A nearly British level of understatement.

  2. avatar Eric Holder says:

    Why do i get the sense that a car explosion is in his future?

    1. avatar William Burke says:

      Not a chance. This is old, old gatekeeper crap. The “modified limited hang-out” that seeks to minimize damage, all whilst spreading lies. The very best among them will be half-truths.

      He’s just doing what Holder wants.

      1. avatar Jus Bill says:

        I suspect DoJ will “disappear ” him. In comfort. Like Whitey B.

  3. avatar Chris Mallory says:

    Dodson is a government employee. He is just like every other government employee, a thug with low morals and suspect character.

  4. avatar Ross says:

    Everything the ATF does gets f**ked up.

  5. avatar Nine says:


    ATF screwing something up.

    Nah, it’ll never happen again~

    1. avatar Not So 1337 says:

      I mean, statistically they can’t fuck up this many times and not do something right, right?

      1. avatar William Burke says:

        Keep on thinking they’re “fucking up”. It’s exactly what they want you to think.

  6. avatar the ruester says:

    If they hadn’t been so busy entrapping the Reese family and moving stolen cigarettes, they would have had plenty of manpower to get the job done.

  7. avatar Hasdrubal says:

    So here’s my contribution to tin foil time-

    Is it plausible that the DOJ received direction from the White House that they should take action aiding the Sinaloa cartel against Los Zetas, with the misguided idea that Mexico being largely under the control of a single criminal organization would reduce the amount of “bad things in the news,” which I believe to be a goal of Democrats whenever they are in power?

    I don’t have a lot of evidence to support this, besides several articles I read last year about the DOJ laundering tens of millions of dollars for the Sinaloa, on the same grounds that they were gathering evidence… but with no arrests or prosecutions. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say the White House needed drug money to run the reelection campaign,or that they’re taking marching orders from whoever el jefe is right now in Colombia. I just think it fits with the same blithely ignorant and arrogant conviction that we know better than the people of a foreign nation what’s good for them, and that we can go ahead and do it whether they like it or not.

    It fits with the thinking that getting rid of Gaddafi and replacing him with a bunch of squabbling militia groups, or helping the Muslim Brotherhood take control of Egypt, or trying to replace Bashar Assad with a bunch of Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist groups, is a good idea. It also fits with the thinking that any of these things are controllable, that the people involved will do whatever the White House thought they would do, instead of looking after their own interests.

    Going back a few administrations, I think the “bad things in the news” idea can help explain why we didn’t really do anything (useful) about the USS Cole, the African Embassy bombings, the first WTC bombing, and also why we handled Somalia and Serbia the way we did. Why bother doing something solid when a song and dance will distract the public until it’s no longer news?

    Like I said, I have nothing solid for this, but I think it fits the limited information and fits the mindset.

    1. avatar Bob says:

      +1 I’m agreeing with all of this.

      I heard that the Zeta cartel was almost strong enough to overthrow the Mexican government, and they were of a mind to do it too. So we were supporting and arming the Sinaloa cartel to battle with the Zetas for control of territory. The theory was that as long as the Zetas were squabbling with the Sinaloas, they would not be able to overthrow the government too.

      All of this was illegal as hell (arming a criminal organization to help the existing government stay in power), which is why it was all done indirectly. We didn’t actually provide the guns, the ATF just let the straw purchases and deliveries happen. We didn’t provide the money to the Sinaloas, the FBI just didn’t stop the money laundering. And the DEA investigated, but didn’t do any big crackdowns on, their drug trafficking operations.

      The result was that the enemy of the enemy of our friend was supported covertly. The whole thing fell apart when they killed Brian Terry. This is at least as bad as the Iran-Contras Scandal, but the ruse this time is that all of it happened due to incompetence.

      1. avatar William Burke says:

        The government of Mexico has been as good as “overthrown” for years. It is a dysfunctional narco-state. All of which works out extremely well for the cartels. They have no need to further overthrow the government.

      2. avatar Jus Bill says:

        CIA normally runs these ops with DOD, because ATF is a sad joke at field ops.

    2. avatar tdiinva says:

      Good detective work. That fits in with this administration’s SOP. But let’s not totally discount added benefit of selling gun control to the public.

      1. avatar Rob says:

        That’s funny, you say “this administration”, so it’s only limited to Obama, huh? Partisan blinders, gotta love it. They are all dirty bastards, don’t sit there and ignorantly scoff at the puppet in the White House today b/c , news flash, all of them are puppets, all of them. But I guess as soon as a GOP tool warms the leather chair in the Oval Office again it’ll all be so different? Please! Yes, it’s convenient to believe in the two party lie, it makes voting so easy, us vs them, oh, and it allows the oligarchy to maintain the status quo, the two party, one system lie shall be perpetuated ad infinitum with this continued mindset. And so it is.

    3. avatar William Burke says:

      I believe your fundamental error is in believing they would do something fundamentally good. The USA promotes and exports chaos, because chaos is good for business. The police state business, mostly.

      It’s the Hegelian Dialectic: Problem, Reaction, Solution. The problem is that government agencies want something they’re not getting, or at least not getting enough of it. So an action is taken, and often it seems to be for not particular reason. It is.

      The agencies know beforehand what the public reaction will be, and they have the news media to suggest and promote the desired reaction.

      And of course, they’ve already worked out the “solution”, which, no matter what its face, is ALWAYS more repression. After all, they got you to DEMAND it!

      1. avatar Hasdrubal says:

        I don’t think they’re trying to do something fundamentally good, I think they’re trying to do something fundamentally evil, misguided, and incredibly arrogant. Playing around with foreign populations worse than we did in Vietnam, Afghanistan, you name it- and not least because at least back then we had the excuse of the Cold War.

        I’m willing to accept the threat of WW3 with the Soviets as a reason to do some pretty crazy things, and we only know which ones were wrong with the benefit of hindsight. But now? They’re doing things just because they can, because they think there will be no reckoning, and because they think they know better than everyone else.

        1. avatar William Burke says:

          Wow. You totally nailed it! Except for the “Soviets” part, I mean. There are Russians, but no Soviets.

  8. avatar ST says:

    Given Obama’s history of corruption in Chicago-I was there when his financier Tony Rezko got indicted-here’s one former Windy City residents take on things.

    Obamas Administration cuts a deal to send guns and materially aid the Sinaloa Cartel in the United States and Mexico, in exchange the Cartel pays Obama a seven figure consulting fee.

    Part of the plan ,in my determination, was Obama using the alliance to advance civil disarmament here in America.With easily traceable guns being sent to Mexico , Obama and Hillar Clinton would have reams of reports showing FFLs arming cartel sicarios.The ATF receipts would be conveniently left out of the Congressional reports.

    The media then hypes up the Mexican suffering as a liberal cause celebre , and Bobs Yer Uncle.Ask for an Assault Weapons Ban , show Congress the tapes and surviellance, and the disarmament lobby wins.

    Except Agent Brian Terry had to get shot with an Obamagun before the last phase of the plan.

    All of a sudden ,the entire scheme had to be abandoned.Otherwise too many people would ask questions about how that bullet got in Agent Terry.

    Unfortunately , my only evidence is the shocking media about face regarding Mexico in summer 2011,and my own deduction.Another piece of evidence:Obamas reaction when the Senate vetoed more background check legislation.You’d make that same face too if your first go around was a failed covert program, only to be subverted again after Newtown.

    Bottom line-get whatever guns you like now.It’s only a matter of time before another leftist stooge figures out another Bond villain scheme to undermine our Constitution, and there’s a lot of stupid people yet among us.

    1. avatar Denny says:

      I find your observations plausible and love it, regardless of other thoughts.. Odumba and clan suck thru and thru. Still a half term for Impeachment et-al .

    2. avatar William Burke says:

      Good analysis. However, I believe the “consulting fee” was in the form of drugs, or much of it, anyway. Drugs as nearly as liquid an asset as cash is, and lots more difficult to trace.

    3. avatar Jus Bill says:

      Reasonable analysis.

  9. avatar TheSleeperHasAwakened says:

    Robert, please make sure to mention the grenades that were also part of Fast and Furious:

    “Grenade-walking” part of “Gunwalker” scandal

    “DOJ faces questions over grenade linked to US smuggler, murder in Mexico”

    Although the “Voice of Reason”, aka Matt in FL, will deny this even exists because Conspiracy Theories don’t exist, the government never lies, and they will never try to take our guns.

    Conspiracies are real, wake-up folks, the rabbit hole goes a lot deeper than just this.

    1. avatar Matt in FL says:

      Oh, I absolutely think there’s a cover-up involved here. I was unaware of the grenades.

      1. avatar William Burke says:

        I was unaware the prison crew on THE WALKING DEAD still had grenades – until last night.

        1. avatar Matt in FL says:

          I haven’t watched it yet, though I did see a screen grab earlier of someone getting shot in the face. So now I have that to look forward to.

        2. avatar William Burke says:

          Watch for the grenade. And some real, er, surprises.

        3. avatar Matt in FL says:

          Well, that episode flew by. Surprises indeed. Glad the none of the major plot points got spoiled before I watched it.

        4. avatar Andy says:

          After the nice long interlude, they have finally gotten TWD back on track with the comic. Sort of… Good episode…

        5. avatar William Burke says:

          Haven’t read any of the comi…. “graphic novels”, and don’t intend to. So at least I don’t have to worry about the series adhering to the GN.

    2. avatar TheSleeperHasAwakened says:

      The CIA manages and controls the Drug Cartels just like they do Al-Qaeda through Gun Running and Money Laundering…..they supply them arms and the funds to advance various agendas, in this particular case with Fast and Furious it was the disarmament of the people of the United States of America.

      The Drug Trade provides the Black Ops financing of these various agendas…hello Iran Contra!

      1. avatar William Burke says:

        Indisputable fact – every word you said.

      2. avatar Jus Bill says:

        Exactly! Luckily for the Republic, there’s an ongoing undercurrent of incompetence and stupidity.

  10. avatar Pat says:

    ATF IS a F-up. It should not exist.

  11. avatar niceguns says:

    This piece of garbage is now going to further try to destroy the GREAT State of Arizona by making the dealers and citizens look bad. Hey moron, if your going to wistleblow, then just wistleblow on the trash in Washington not the gun frieldly state of Arizona. What a piece of work this ATF slug is. Effin Cops…

  12. avatar Mike the Limey says:

    Here’s my take as a “disinterested” Brit:

    Those guns were ALWAYS supposed to cross the border & there was deliberate intent to wait for the deaths to begin. Someone knew the Mexican authorities would start picking them up at crime scenes, thus giving weight to demands for greater restrictions on firearms purchases in the US.
    Terry’s death scuppered the deal somewhat because some Federal types suddenly recalled they had morals once they realised it could have been THEM getting killed.
    Of course the legislature did what it could to use the “US guns over the border” but all they managed (bad enough) was the illegal recording of multiple rifles in certain southern States.
    It’s been nothing but smokescreens & lies from those in the know ever since.

    1. avatar William Burke says:


  13. avatar Joseph B. Campbell says:

    Of course they have to smear and discredit him. They have to set him up as the scapegoat for all that happened. This way the guilty can walk free. No I have not forgotten Fast and Furious, nor who is in contempt of Congress, nor Benghazi.

  14. avatar James Santory says:

    It is easy to be critical of Dodson, but after just finishing his book, I do not think he could have done much more while it was going on. He was already kicked out of his group. I do not think he purposely covered up the real reason that this was an attempt at increased gun control, but was rather so used to the incompetance of government. Thus his statement that the “government could not do a compiracy to hold a bake sale”. What was sad about the book is that the question “why” is never really asked. It is not Dodson’s fault this did not raise to greater consequenses, but rather the weak ass republicans that should have started impeachment proceedings on the attorney general, not contempt.

    1. avatar William Burke says:

      Fast and Furious was ANYTHING but a “f*ck-up”. He sounds to me like part of the cover-up.

    2. avatar Mitchina says:

      I agree. The writer wants Dodson to know something he doesn’t or guess at an explanation for what the corrupt Obama administration was doing. Most of America didn’t understand wtf that POS gvt’s intensions were other than destroying our country.

  15. avatar Andy E says:

    Is there a grander scheme afoot? How much is the public really aware of vs what is really happening? There’s alot of closed door conversations by our elected idiots. Spending our tax dollars to limit our rights. Sadly when this house of cards collapses we will still be near the bottom of the deck. I’m betting this is no where near over. Even after time has passed.

  16. avatar Mitchina says:

    What am I missing? John was the ONLY one to say ANYTHING – how is that fucked up regardless of how he did it? He was one man at the bottom of the totem pole against a powerful list of other that goes all the way to the POTUS and you’re gonna scrutinize and criticize him? Sorry, I think he’s a hero end to end.

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