CNN 2012-07-16

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For months, as you know, we've been covering the investigation² into the "Fast and Furious" gun running operation. Tonight, the mother and cousin of slain Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, the man you see right there, who was killed in connection with the gun running operation, they are speaking out on this program. Speaking out for the first time since the indictments⁴ were unsealed on Monday, charging five people in the shootout that resulted in the death of Agent Terry. The shootout, which happened in December of 2010. 

 

Now two guns were found at the scene of Terry's murder. Guns that months earlier the U.S. government allegedly knew and allowed to be bought by known criminals. Four of the five men charged in Agent Terry's murder are still at large, presumably in Mexico. We have pictures of just three of them. Federal authorities are offering up to $1 million for information leading to their arrest. 

 

Again, Brian Terry's mother and cousin joining us exclusively in just a moment. But first, though, "Keeping Them Honest." There are questions tonight about why the Justice Department waited eight months to go public with the charges. 

 

I applaud what they're doing, but I condemn⁵ the timing⁶. It's very clear that the timing has everything to do with the House of Representatives holding Eric Holder⁷ in contempt. 

 

Congressman⁸ Issa went on to call Monday's announcement another example, quote, "of using politics over good policy." "Keeping Them Honest," we asked senior legal analyst⁹ Jeffrey Toobin, a former federal prosecutor¹⁰ himself, about the timing of this. He said that an eight-month gap between indictment³ and press conference is unusual, but Jeff said that there may be good reasons to keep indictments sealed that long, such as the one laid out by the U.S. attorney who's handling the case. 

 

When we are conducting covert¹¹ operations, it benefits us to have the names of the defendants¹² that we're looking for sealed and not available to the public. 

 

So were there good law enforcement reasons to keep these indictments sealed for eight months? Possibly. Was there also a political or public relations component¹³ to Monday's announcement? Also very possible. We have no clear answer to Chairman Issa's allegation tonight. Nor for this allegation leveled by Issa and Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley. 

 

They say the ATF has now put these two "Fast and Furious" whistleblowers, Special Agent Sean Dodson and Pete Fraselli, under the supervision¹⁴ of a boss who allegedly threatened to take them down. In a letter to the Justice Department's inspector¹⁵ general, Issa and Grassley make the case that Dodson and Fraselli's supervisor¹⁶, a man named Scott Thomason, had it in for the pair. 

 

Quote, "He stated we need to get whatever dirt we can on these guys," the whistleblowers, "and take them down." The letter also cites another incident in which Thomason allegedly said, quote; "ATF needs to F these guys." 

 

With us now are Brian Terry's mom, Josephine, and his cousin Robert Heyer. 

 

Appreciate both of you being honest with us. 

 

Josephine, first of all, our condolences for the loss of your son, I can't imagine what this has been like, but these last two years, frankly¹⁷, have been like more than two years now. I wanted first of all to get your reaction to the recent indictments the U.S. attorney announced in San Diego. 

 

I think it's a good thing. And I'm pleased the way everything is going and I think Laura Duffy and her team are really doing an excellent job. And I think something good is going to come out of this. 

 

Robert, has anyone from the Department of Justice given you an indication as to why the indictment is just now being sealed? 

 

Well, if you mean the Department of Justice, we talked with Laura Duffy and her team of prosecutors¹⁸. We don't talk much with the Department of Justice in Washington. And we have been consulted by U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy and her team of prosecutors over the past year. They even flew to Detroit to brief Brian's parents, Josephine and Kent Sr. on the status of the case. 

 

As we understand it, this investigation has been ongoing¹⁹ with the primary goal of apprehending²⁰ these four fugitives²¹, and that is the reason that it has been delayed in being announced.

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