Court Overturns Ruling That Kept 'Fast and Furious' Documents Secret
Friday, 12 Feb 2016 02:08 PM
Unreleased documents related to a lawsuit over the Obama
administration's failed "Fast and Furious" program, which attempted to
track guns getting into the clutches of Mexican drug cartels, could be a
step closer to becoming public.
The Hill reports a federal appeals court on Friday overturned a lower court ruling that kept the documents from being made public.
While the judgement doesn't guarantee the eight documents will see the light of day, the appeals court ordered the case to be reviewed again.
The government watchdog Judicial Watch had requested the documents under the Freedom of Information Act, but the Obama administration refused to hand over 32 pages, citing a "court-imposed non-disclosure" rule.
"Fast and Furious," which operated from 2009 to 2011, allowed drug
cartel straw purchasers to smuggle thousands of weapons across the
border into Mexico in an effort to trace where they ended up.
But a number of the weapons ended up being used in major crimes on both sides of the border and some were linked to the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in the Arizona border city of Nogales in December 2010.
While the judgement doesn't guarantee the eight documents will see the light of day, the appeals court ordered the case to be reviewed again.
The government watchdog Judicial Watch had requested the documents under the Freedom of Information Act, but the Obama administration refused to hand over 32 pages, citing a "court-imposed non-disclosure" rule.
But a number of the weapons ended up being used in major crimes on both sides of the border and some were linked to the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in the Arizona border city of Nogales in December 2010.
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