Thursday, June 9, 2011

WSJ: "GOP Lawmakers Press Investigation of Gun Operation."

Talk about fast and furious.

Republican lawmakers are preparing their biggest push yet to try to force the Justice Department to explain a troubled federal investigation that they say inadvertently fueled arms trafficking to Mexico.

House Oversight Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)Rep. Darrell Issa, (R., Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee has scheduled hearings next Monday and Wednesday on how the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives’ “Operation Fast and Furious” backfired.

Among those called to testify are ATF whistleblowers who have provided information to congressional investigators.

The ATF investigation in 2009 and 2010 was aimed at gathering evidence against major gun traffickers believed to funnel weapons to Mexican drug cartels, whose battles have claimed 40,000 lives since 2006.

Two assault rifles that lawmakers say were tied to suspects in the Fast and Furious operation were found at the scene of a December shooting in Arizona in which border patrol agent Brian Terry was killed. The weapon that was used to kill the agent hasn’t been identified. A Mexican national has been indicted in the killing.

Mr. Issa and Sen. Chuck Grassley, (R.,Iowa) have been investigating the operation, and say evidence indicates the ATF instead allowed more than 2,500 weapons to fall into the hands of traffickers.

The Wall Street Journal reported today that a weapons arsenal found in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in April included at least five AK-47 style rifles that U.S. authorities trace to suspects in the ATF’s troubled operation. ATF documents show the guns were entered into a database of suspect guns.

The discovery appears to be the first confirmation of GOP fears that because of a poorly conceived operation, Fast and Furious guns ended up with drug gangs in Mexico.

“The reckless decisions of ATF and Justice Department officials in Operation Fast and Furious have devastated lives and put fear into communities on both sides of the border,” Mr. Issa said.

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