A Justice Department program that allowed gun smugglers to purchase guns is unacceptable, Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday.
Holder told the Senate Appropriations commerce, justice and science subcommittee that he has informed Justice Department officials that allowing guns to “walk” is unacceptable, responding to concerns about a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives program that let guns end up with Mexican drug cartels.
The ATF program, known as Operation Fast and Furious, made it possible for suspected smugglers to buy 1,765 firearms, 797 of which were recovered in Mexico and the United States after they were used in crimes. Of those crime guns, 195 were recovered in Mexico.
Two were found at the scene of a killing of Agent Brian Terry on Dec. 14. Jamie Avila, who was recognized as a straw purchaser of firearms, was arrested shortly after the killing. ATF was following Avila’s gun buys.
“Guns are different than drug cases or cases where we’re trying to follow where money goes,” Holder said. “We cannot have a situation where guns are allowed to walk and I’ve made that clear to the United States Attorneys as well as the agents in charge of the various ATF offices.”
Republicans and ATF agents have expressed concerns about the program. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations subcommitteel, said the news reports about the program are “disturbing.”
Holder has asked the DOJ Inspector General to probe the program. But Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote this week in a letter to Kevin Perkins, the head of the Integrity Committee of the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, that the DOJ Inspector General should be removed from the investigation. Grassley said he wasn’t sure if the office could be impartial because it is run by an acting chief. He said acting heads are often caretakers who may not have the tools necessary to thoroughly conduct probes.
Holder came before the subcommittee to testify about the DOJ’s $28.2 billion fiscal 2012 budget request.
