Remember all of the times that former President Barack Obama said there weren’t any scandals during his administration?
All Obama ended up proving was that he could lie with a straight face — and notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is proving that by throwing the former president’s name around in his criminal trial.
The murderous drug lord remembers one major Obama scandal very well — and he’s hoping to parlay it into a “get out of jail free” card.
As government watchdog Judicial Watch first reported, Guzman is trying to use Obama’s “Fast and Furious” debacle as a major part of his defense against a litany of federal criminal charges.
Guzman was extradited from Mexico last year and is awaiting trial in New York.
“Fast and Furious” was a disastrous Obama-era program that allowed Mexican cartels to obtain American-sold weapons, presumably with the goal of tracking them.
But hundreds of guns went missing and were used by drug gangs, including Guzman’s notorious Sinaloa Cartel, to commit murders.
One of the weapons was even used in the murder of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.
Now, Guzman’s attorneys want to use details of the “Fast and Furious” scandal as leverage over the U.S. government, and to prove that the Obama administration played a direct role in arming the cartels — and critics are concerned that Obama’s folly could even help “El Chapo” avoid serious jailtime.
That’s because federal prosecutors seem desperate to keep potential jurors from hearing what Guzman and his lawyers have to say.
They’re asking a federal judge to block any questions or statements about the program.
Clearly, Guzman thinks he has an ace up his sleeve with his intimate knowledge of the “Fast and Furious” scandal.
And prosecutors seem worried enough to try to stop him.
Guzman likely could expose years of Obama Administration lies about the program.
And it appears Guzman is hoping he can use “Fast and Furious” as a bargaining chip for a reduced sentence. It’s unclear if prosecutors will be willing to play ball.
But one thing is clear: There most definitely were scandals during Obama’s presidency.
One of them is blowing up in his face in a New York courtroom.
— David Martin is a reporter for The Horn News