The American left has been accused of essentially weaponizing the Department of Justice to go after their political enemies. None seemed to have embraced that effort more than the ATF.

Time and time again, we’ve seen the bureau cross the line with regard to carrying out its duties.

As a result, it’s sparked a doomed effort to abolish the ATF once and for all.

It’s not going to happen, of course, but it’s amusing to see. Unfortunately, now the White House is claiming that Republicans want to empower Mexican cartels.

The White House is opening a new line of attack on Republicans — as former President Donald Trump demands his party defund federal law enforcement — by arguing that threatening firearm-control agencies would help arm Mexican drug cartels that traffic fentanyl into the country.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, a perennial target of gun rights supporters, risks a funding reduction or even outright elimination as House Republicans look for places to cut spending in government fundingnegotiations.

Meanwhile, as President Joe Biden gears up for re-election, the White House has been trying to turn the tables on Republicans, who often accuse Democrats of being anti-police and soft on crime, by pointing out that conservatives are now the ones who want to “defund the DOJ,” as Trump said Friday hours after he was arrested.

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told NBC News in a statement that Republicans are trying to thwart Biden’s effort to keep guns out of the hands of violent drug traffickers.

“MAGA Republican extremism in Congress is a growing threat to the fight against violent crime and fentanyl trafficking. President Biden is working hard to prevent the flow of firearms into the hands of drug cartels, as part of a comprehensive strategy to block the flow of fentanyl into the United States. But hardcore MAGA members of Congress are doing everything they can to thwart these efforts,” Bates said.

Coming from Obama’s vice president, that’s rich.

Let’s not forget that he was part of the administration that concocted Operation Fast and Furious that literally instructed gun dealers to conduct questionable sales to people who then took the guns into Mexico for the cartels.

The ATF was a key part of that if you recall.

To say that abolishing the ATF would make it easier for the cartels when the Obama administration took pains to arm them in the first place seems oddly hypocritical.

Especially since the laws surrounding firearms wouldn’t change with the repeal of the ATF. They’d have to be shuttled to other agencies–probably the FBI, which isn’t a lot better, to be fair–but things like NICS checks and Form 4473s would still be required.

To claim that removing one agency–one with a significant history of doing everything wrong every chance they get–would suddenly empower gun-running is beyond ridiculous.

Especially in light of Biden’s own resume.

And, frankly, Republicans need to strike back with Biden over Fast and Furious because that’s going to be tough to answer. Even if he wasn’t involved, Democrats and the ATF were, and that should undermine a lot of this in a hurry.