Holder answers critics, says he knew nothing of 'Fast and Furious' tactics - The Seattle Times

[patri6lhamy]

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder said Friday that his testimony to Congress about a gun-smuggling investigation was truthful and accurate and that Republicans are engaging <a href="http://hospital.99mr.com/beijingyafengzhengxingmei"><strong>北京亚峰整 形</strong></a> in political posturing when they say otherwise. Holder said he had said little about the gun-smuggling probe because the Justice Department inspector general is investigating it, but he could not sit idly by while a Republican congressman suggested law enforcement and government employees be considered accessories to murder. Key Republicans say the attorney general knew many months earlier than he has admitted that the gun-smuggling probe by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) involved agents letting guns pass from small-time straw purchasers to arms traffickers. "I have no recollection of knowing about the operation, called 'Fast and Furious,' or of hearing its name prior to the public controversy about it," Holder said in a letter to key Republican and Democratic members of Congress. He added that before early this year, "I certainly never knew about the tactics employed in the operation, and it is my understanding that the former United States Attorney for the district of Arizona and the former acting director and deputy director of ATF have told Congress that they, themselves, were unaware of the <a href="http://hospital.99mr.com/tangshanjinfenghuangzheng"><strong>金凤凰</strong></a> tactics employed." He was referring to the tactic known as "letting guns walk" from stores with suspected straw purchasers, rather than seizing them there, in an effort to track them to gunrunning kingpins. Operation Fast and Furious came to light after two assault rifles purchased by a now-indicted small-time buyer under scrutiny in the operation turned up at a shootout in Arizona where Customs and Border Protection agent Brian Terry was killed. In regard to Terry's <a href="http://hospital.99mr.com/ziboyouyiyiyuan/"><strong>友谊医院</strong></a> death, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., said: "we're talking about consequences of criminal activity," adding, "when you facilitate that, and a murder or a felony occurs, you're called an accessory." The attorney general noted the flawed tactics employed in Fast and Furious "were actually employed in an investigation conducted during the prior administration." This week, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that is looking into Fast and Furious, said Holder had to have known about the operation from weekly written reports he received back in July 2010. The weekly reports cover dozens of investigations and some mentioned Fast and Furious, but did not outline <a href="http://inbookmark.com/mybookmark.php"><strong>海南添美整形</strong></a> the tactics it used. Officials say ATF agents lost track of 1,400 of 2,000 guns identified in the operation. Many were recovered at crime scenes in Mexico.