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Investigation of Operation Fast and Furious
On December 15, 2010, Customs and Border Protection Agent Brian Terry was killed in a gunfight in Arizona, and two AK-47 variant assault rifles found at the scene were traced back to purchases by one of the targets of an investigation called Operation Fast and Furious being conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
After a year-long investigation by the Committee into the actions and circumstances that led to guns from Operation Fast and Furious ending up in crime scenes in the U.S. and across the border in Mexico, Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings issued a report, Fatally Flawed: Five Years of Gunwalking in Arizona. Follow the links below to learn more about the investigation.
Five Things You Should Know:
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1. Ranking Member Cummings' report found that gunwalking operations originated and were executed in the Phoenix Field Division of ATF as early as 2006, and that there was no evidence that senior officials at the Department of justice approved the gunwalking.
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4. In June and July 2012, the Republican Leadership in the House rushed to hold the Attorney General in contempt of Congress despite the fact that there is no evidence that Holder was involved in ATF's Operation Fast and Furious.
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2. The Committee's investigation was highly politicized and characterized by unsubstantiated allegations that proved to be false.
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5. In September 2012, the Department of Justice Inspector General (IG) released his report, which came to substantially the same conclusion as the report released by Ranking Member Cummings in January 2012. See the key conclusions from the IG’s report.
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| 3. The Republicans refused to hold a public hearing with Kenneth Melson. The Committee also never heard testimony from former Attorney General Michael Mukasey who was briefed on botched efforts to coordinate firearm interdictions with Mexican law enforcement officials in 2007. |
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Quick Links:
Press Clips:
- Read Dana Milbank's column in the Washington Post "Fast and Furiously Going Nowhere"
- Watch Cummings on Fox News Sunday talk about the Republican push to hold the AG in Contempt of Congress
- Read New York Times Editorial "A Pointless Partisan Fight"
- Read Juan Williams OpEd: "Darrell Issa's Fast and Furious Campaign Against Team Obama.
- Read Boston Globe Editorial: "A House Committee's Overly 'Fast and Furious Response"
Documents
- Read the Ranking Member's Report, Fatally Flawed: Five Years of Gunwalking in Arizona
- Read the Inspector General’s Report
- Read a summary prepared by the Democratic Committee staff of the IG report.
- Read the “Dissenting Views” On Issa’s Contempt Citation of Attorney General Holder
Press Releases
- Read Cummings Statement on the DOJ IG Report
- Read: Cummings Applauds Capture of Suspect in Agent Brian Terry’s Murder
- Read: Cummings Statement on Issa Suit Against Attorney General Eric Holder
- Read: Cummings Statement on Resolution to Hold Attorney General Holder in Contempt of Congress
- Watch: Video Documents Unsubstantiated Claims and “Blind Alleys” During Investigation of Fast and Furious
- Read: Cummings to Issa: Stop Partisan Political Feud Over Operation Fast and Furious
- Read: Cummings Calls for Public Hearing With Bush Attorney General Mukasey on Gunwalking
- Read: Why Are Republicans Ignoring the “Mukasey Memo” On Botched Gunwalking Operations During the Bush Administration?
- Read: Cummings Calls for Public Hearing With Former Director of ATF On Fast And Furious
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