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| Last December, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered in a firefight with drug runners using rifles that were traced to an ATF-led operation called "Fast and Furious". In the operation, ATF officials told gun-store owners to sell weapons to "strawbuyers," individuals who legally bought the weapons with the intention of transferring them to criminals destined for Mexico. Once the weapons were in Mexico, the idea of Operation Fast and Furious was to trace the weapons back to the strawbuyers and bring down the entire smuggling network. Over 2,000 semiautomatic guns – valued at over one million dollars – were placed into the hands of known criminal organizations. In March, I joined Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith and other members of the Committee in writing a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder asking for answers to questions surrounding the operation; the stonewalled response we received provided little to no details. At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week, Senator Chuck Grassley pointed to a Department of Justice letter the senator received last February incorrectly stating that federal agents were making "every effort" to intercept weapons that have been purchased illegally and prevent their transportation to Mexico. In response, Attorney General Eric Holder expressed regret that the Department of Justice had provided Senator Grassley with misleading information. In addition, Congressman Darrell Issa, Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, wrote Attorney General Holder on Tuesday regarding Congress' intention to start an investigation into undercover operations in which agents possibly laundered and smuggled millions of dollars in drug money as part of their effort to confront Mexican organized crime. | |
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