The GOP’s 2012 platform blames the Justice Department for its “reckless actions” during botched gun-walking operation Fast and Furious and applauds the House of Representatives for voting the Attorney General in contempt of Congress in the mission’s aftermath.
The platform, formally accepted by the party this week during the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., offers a condemnation of the Obama administration and the department for its handling of the operation.
“We condemn the reckless actions associated with the operation known as ‘Fast and Furious,’ conducted by the Department of Justice, which resulted in the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent and others on both sides of the border,” the platform states. “We applaud the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives in holding the current Administration’s Attorney General in contempt of Congress for his refusal to cooperate with their investigation into that debacle.”
The three lines related to Fast and Furious are in the lengthy document under the “The Second Amendment: Our Right to Keep and Bear Arms” heading.
“We oppose the improper collection of firearms sales information in the four southern border states, which was imposed without congressional authority,” the passage continues.
The U.S. Border Patrol Agent is Brian Terry, who was killed in a gunfight between U.S. authorities and Mexican bandits in 2010. Two guns that went missing during Fast and Furious were found at the scene of a shootout on the Mexico-Arizona border.
The operation, spearheaded by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, aimed to track about 2,000 guns sold to strawbuyers, who in turn smuggled them over the border into Mexico. The investigation backfired when ATF lost track of hundreds of guns, two of which were found at the scene of Terry’s murder.
The House, in a historic vote, found Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress in June for failing to turn over hundreds of documents related to Fast and Furious. It was a major flashpoint for the 18-month congressional investigation into the department’s handling of the botched operation.
