House Committee Looks Closer at the Death of Agent Jaime Zapata

By now everyone has heard of border agent Brian Perry. Often on television as the correspondent is wrapping up a segment the close will include a reference to Perry as the American causality of operation Fast and Furious. Perry is the lone American killed on American soil but Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Jamie Zapata was shot to death as he and another agent were driving from Monterrey to Mexico City. The exact purpose of Zapata's mission has never been made clear but the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is looking deeper into the events surrounding Zapata's death. On the list of subpoenaed material is item number 6.

6. All documents and communications referring or relating to the murder of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agent Jaime Zapata, including but not limited to documents and communications regarding Zapata's mission when he was murdered, Form for Reporting Information That May Become Testimony (FD-302), photographs of the crime scene, and investigative reports prepared by the FBI.

According to Victor Avila, Zapata's partner who survived the attack, Zapata's last words were; “We’re Americans. We’re diplomats.” Which raises the question were the two men on some sort of diplomatic mission since it's doubtful the were bound to Mexico City in an enforcement capacity. It is known he was executed by gang members of the Los Zetas drug cartel. It was the rival gang, the Sinaloa cartel that was the recipient of the arms from Fast and Furious and a member of that gang is jailed in Chicago with his lawyers claiming he has an immunity agreement with the US government brokered through the DEA.
There is a theory being developed among reporters and bloggers that Eric Holder, or more likely one of his deputies, patterned operation Fast and Furious after the Bush administration's operation Wide Receiver because it replicated the gun walking aspect. Wide Receiver was supposedly carried out in cooperation with the Mexican government but it was abandoned when too many guns were lost. What better way to arm the Sinaloa cartel than by allowing gun shipments to them from Phoenix? Plus it gave the DOJ the cover of failed sting operation that was begun during the previous administration. William Newell, the ATF supervisor of the Phoenix office had worked operation Wide Receiver and knew how to set Fast and Furious in motion. He admitted to emailing information to Kevin O'Reilly who worked for the National Security Agency in the White House. He is now believed to have visited O'Reilly in the White House. O'Reilly has recently been posted to Iraq.

Very little is known about Wide Receiver since DOJ has refused to release any of the germane documents but people from the Bush administration write it off as a small time operation that tried without much success to keep a close eye on the contraband arms but the video below might make that case harder to make. Bush Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez has not commented on the case. The fact that a nefarious policy spanned two administrations may have political implications but it will not mitigate the legal consequences nor will it bring back agents Zapata and Perry.