ATF gunwalking scandal

Operations

There have been allegations of gunwalking in at least 10 cities in five states. The most widely known and controversial operations took place in Arizona under the ATF's Phoenix, Arizona field division.

2006–2008: Operation Wide Receiver and other probes

Operation Wide Receiver

The first known ATF gunwalking operation to Mexican drug cartels, named Operation Wide Receiver, began in early 2006 and ran into late 2007. Licensed dealer Mike Detty of Mad Dawg Global informed the ATF of a suspicious gun purchase that took place in February 2006, in Tucson, Arizona. In March, he was hired as a confidential informant working with the ATF's Tucson office, part of their Phoenix, Arizona field division.

With the use of surveillance equipment, ATF agents monitored additional sales by Detty to straw purchasers. With assurance from ATF "that Mexican officials would be conducting surveillance or interdictions when guns got to the other side of the border", These included semi-automatic AR-15s, semi-automatic AK-pattern rifles, and Colt .38s. The majority of the guns were eventually lost as they moved into Mexico.

As the later DOJ OIG report documented, under Wide Receiver coordination of ATF Tucson with the ATF Mexico City Office (MCO) and with Mexican law enforcement had been haphazard. Discussions of getting tracking devices from Raytheon were not followed up. ATF field agents and the cooperating gun dealer had been told by ATF supervisors that the guns were being interdicted before they could reach Mexico, but only 64 of the 474 guns had actually been seized. The kingpin sought by walking the guns, Israel Egurrola-Leon, turned out to be the target of a larger drug case Operation Iron River run by OCDETF. After Operation Wide Receiver was ended, several attorneys at the Phoenix USAO who reviewed the Wide Receiver cases for prosecution found the cases had been so poorly managed that they were reluctant to bring any of them to trial.

At the time, under the Bush administration Department of Justice (DOJ), no arrests or indictments were made. After President Barack Obama took office in 2009, the DOJ reviewed Wide Receiver and found that guns had been allowed into the hands of suspected gun traffickers. Indictments began in 2010, over three years after Wide Receiver concluded. , nine people had been charged with making false statements in acquisition of firearms and illicit transfer, shipment or delivery of firearms. As of November, charges against one defendant had been dropped; five of them had pleaded guilty, and one had been sentenced to one year and one day in prison. Two of them remained fugitives.

The Hernandez case

Another, smaller probe occurred in 2007, under the same ATF Phoenix field division. The Fidel Hernandez case began when the ATF identified Mexican suspects who bought weapons from a Phoenix gun shop over a span of several months. The probe ultimately involved over 200 guns, a dozen of which were lost in Mexico. On September 27, 2007, ATF agents saw the original suspects buying weapons at the same store and followed them toward the Mexican border. The ATF informed the Mexican government when the suspects successfully crossed the border, but Mexican law enforcement were unable to track them.

Less than two weeks later, on October 6, William Newell, then ATF's Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Phoenix field division, shut down the operation at the behest of William Hoover, ATF's assistant director for the office of field operations. No charges were filed. Newell, who was Phoenix ATF SAC from June 2006 to May 2011, would later play a major role in Operation Fast and Furious.

The Hernandez case was referenced in a briefing paper prepared for Attorney General Michael Mukasey prior to his meeting with the Mexican Attorney General Medina Mora on November 16, 2007. The paper stated, "ATF has recently worked jointly with Mexico on the first-ever attempt to have a controlled delivery of weapons being smuggled into Mexico by a major arms trafficker" and that "the first attempts at this controlled delivery have not been successful". The paper also stated, "ATF would like to expand the possibility of such joint investigations and controlled deliveries—since only then will it be possible to investigate an entire smuggling network, rather than arresting simply a single smuggler."

Investigators regarded the Hernandez Case as an example of "controlled delivery" with surveillance and involvement of Mexican authorities rather than gunwalking or failure to attempt interdiction.

The Medrano case

The 2008 Alejandro Medrano case involved both ATF SAC William Newell and cooperating Tucson gun dealer Mike Detty of Operation Wide Receiver. ATF Phoenix allowed about 100 guns to be taken into Mexico over the objections of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel who became aware of the case. Phoenix ATF SAC Newell acknowledged to ICE "that letting guns cross the border was part of ATF's plan". In August 2010, Medrano was sentenced to 46 months, his associate Hernan Ramos received 50 months and their fellow conspirators received prison terms from 14 to 30 months, but the target, a Sinaloa Cartel kingpin, Javier Elenes Ruiz, nicknamed "Rambo," remained untouched inside Mexico.

2009–2011: Operation Fast and Furious

On October 26, 2009, a teleconference was held at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. to discuss U.S. strategy for combating Mexican drug cartels. Participating in the meeting were Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer, acting ATF Director Kenneth E. Melson, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Michele Leonhart, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Robert Mueller and the top federal prosecutors in the Southwestern border states. They decided on a strategy to identify and eliminate entire arms trafficking networks rather than low-level buyers. Those at the meeting apparently did not suggest using the gunwalking tactic, but Phoenix ATF supervisors would soon use it in an attempt to achieve the desired goals.

The strategy of targeting high-level individuals, which was already ATF policy, would be implemented by Bill Newell, special agent in charge of ATF's Phoenix field division. In order to accomplish it, the office decided to monitor suspicious firearms purchases which federal prosecutor Emory Hurley claimed lacked sufficient evidence for prosecution, as laid out in a January 2010 briefing paper. This was said to be allowed under ATF regulations and given legal backing by U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona Dennis K. Burke. It was additionally approved and funded by a Justice Department task force. However, long-standing DOJ and ATF policy has required suspected illegal arms shipments to be intercepted.

The operation began on October 31, 2009, when a local gun store reported to the Phoenix ATF that four individuals had purchased multiple AK-47 style rifles. In November 2009, the Phoenix office's Group VII, which would be the lead investigative group in Fast and Furious, began to follow a prolific gun trafficker. He had bought 34 firearms in 24 days, and he and his associates bought 212 more in the next month. The case soon grew to over two dozen straw purchasers, the most prolific of which would ultimately buy more than 600 weapons. The effort would come to be called Operation Fast and Furious for the successful film franchise, because some of the suspects under investigation operated out of an auto repair store and street raced.

Under the previous Operation Wide Receiver, there had been a formal ATF contract with the cooperating gun dealer and efforts were made to involve the ATF Mexico City Office (MCO) and Mexican law enforcement. Under Operation Fast and Furious, at Newell's insistence, the cooperating gun dealers did not have contracts with ATF, and MCO and Mexican police were left in the dark.

According to internal ATF documents, the operation was initially run in conjunction with the Phoenix DEA Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). On January 26, 2010, ATF formally applied to the Justice Department in Washington for funding through the OCDETF program. When it won approval and received additional funding, Operation Fast and Furious was reorganized as a Strike Force that included agents from the ATF, FBI, DEA, and the ICE component of the Department of Homeland Security, which would be run through the U.S. Attorney's office rather than the ATF. This new Strike Force designation allowed the operation to take advantage of sophisticated surveillance techniques such as federal wiretaps, which would require court orders and interaction from Justice Department officials in Washington, D.C. since federal law requires certain individuals to review evidence and certify the necessity of such techniques.

The dealers involved became concerned as months went by and the same individuals they reported to ATF as suspected straw purchasers returned and repeatedly bought identical weapons. As they later told the DOJ OIG, their previous experience was that after they reported a suspected straw to ATF, they did not see the straw again unless subpoenaed to testify against the straw at trial.

The tactic of letting guns walk, rather than interdicting them and arresting the buyers, led to controversy within the ATF. As the case continued, several members of Group VII, including John Dodson and Olindo Casa, became increasingly upset at the tactic of allowing guns to walk. Their standard Project Gunrunner training was to follow the straw purchasers to the hand-off to the cartel buyers, then arrest both parties and seize the guns. But according to Dodson, they watched guns being bought illegally and stashed on a daily basis, while their supervisors, including David Voth and Hope MacAllister, prevented the agents from intervening.

However, other accounts of the operation insist that ATF agents were prevented from intervening not by ATF officials, but rather by federal prosecutor Emory Hurley, who stated agents did not have sufficient evidence to arrest suspected straw-buyers. According to some reports, many agents insisted they were prevented from making arrests because prosecutors were unwilling to engage in what could become a potentially contentious political battle over Second Amendment rights during an election year, particularly given the difficult nature of prosecuting straw buyers, and the weak penalties associated with it, even if successful. Instead, prosecutor Hurley instructed ATF agents not to make arrests, but rather continue collecting evidence in order to build a stronger case. One tactic proposed for doing so was a wiretap of suspected straw-buyers, in an attempt to link the suspects to criminal activities taking place on the Mexican side of the border. Between March 20 and July 30, 2010, nine wiretaps were sought and approved by Justice Department officials, resulting in a significant delay in concluding the case.

One of the central targeted individuals was Manuel Fabian Celis-Acosta. By December 2009, Celis-Acosta was being investigated by the ATF, which had placed a secret pole camera outside his Phoenix home to track his movements. Around this time, apparently by chance, ATF agents discovered Celis-Acosta was also a potential criminal target of the DEA, which was operating a wire room to monitor live wiretaps in order to track him. On April 2, 2010, Celis-Acosta was arrested on possession of cocaine and found in possession of a weapon purchased by Uriel Patino, who had already purchased at least 434 guns from cooperating gun dealers in the Phoenix area. By this time, about a dozen ATF agents regularly surveilled Celis-Acosta as he recruited 20 friends and family to buy guns for him and regularly traveled to Texas to obtain funds from cartel associates to purchase firearms. On May 29, 2010, Celis-Acosta was detained in Lukeville, Arizona with 74 rounds of ammunition and 9 cell phones. He was then released by the chief ATF investigator on Fast and Furious, Hope MacAllister, after he promised to cooperate with her to find two specific Sinaloa cartel associates. After the redetention and arrest of Celis-Acosta in February 2011, the ATF learned that the associates they were after were FBI/DEA paid informants, and one of them was Celis-Acosta's financier. Since they were informants, they were unindictable under Operation Fast and Furious.

Later, the DOJ inspector General concluded: "We did not find persuasive evidence that agents sought to seize firearms or make arrests during the investigative stage of the case and were rebuffed by the prosecutor. ...We found that the lack of seizures and arrests was primarily attributable to the pursuit of a strategic goal shared by both the [Phoenix] ATF and the U.S. Attorney's Office—to eliminate a trafficking organization—and the belief that confronting subjects and seizing firearms could compromise that goal."

By June 2010, suspects had purchased 1,608 firearms at a cost of over US$1 million at Phoenix-area gun shops. At that time, the ATF was also aware of 179 of those weapons being found at crime scenes in Mexico, and 130 in the United States. As guns traced to Fast and Furious began turning up at violent crime scenes in Mexico, ATF agents stationed there also voiced opposition.

On the evening of December 14, 2010, U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry and others were patrolling Peck Canyon, Santa Cruz County, Arizona, 11 mi from the Mexican border. The group came across five suspected illegal immigrants. When they fired non-lethal beanbag guns, the suspects responded with their own weapons, leading to a firefight. Terry was shot and killed; four of the suspects were arrested and two AK-pattern rifles were found nearby. The rifles were traced within hours of the shooting to a Phoenix store involved in the Fast and Furious operation, but the bullet that killed Terry was too badly damaged to be conclusively linked to either gun. Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler and Deputy Chief of Staff Monty Wilkinson were informed about the guns, but they didn't believe the information was sufficiently important to alert the Attorney General about it or to make any further inquiry regarding the development.

After hearing of the incident, Dodson contacted ATF headquarters, ATF's chief counsel, the ATF ethics section and the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General, none of whom immediately responded. He and other agents then contacted Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa (R–IA), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who would become a major figure in the investigation of gunwalking. At the same time, information began leaking to various bloggers and Web sites.

On January 25, 2011, Burke announced the first details of the case to become officially public, marking the end of Operation Fast and Furious. At a news conference in Phoenix, he reported a 53-count indictment of 20 suspects for buying hundreds of guns intended for illegal export between September 2009 and December 2010. Newell, who was at the conference, called Fast and Furious a "phenomenal case," while denying that guns had been deliberately allowed to walk into Mexico.

Altogether, about 2,000 firearms were bought by straw purchasers during Fast and Furious. , 389 had been recovered in the US and 276 had been recovered in Mexico. The rest remained on the streets, unaccounted for. , the total number of recovered firearms was 710. Most of the guns went to the Sinaloa Cartel, while others made their way to El Teo and La Familia.

Although most weapons were purchased by suspects under investigation by the program, there have been reports of at least one instance of ATF agents being directly involved in the transfer of weapons. On April 13, 2010, ATF Agent John Dodson, with assistance from Agents Casa and Alt, directed a cooperating straw purchaser to give three guns to Isaiah Fernandez, a suspected gun trafficker, and had taped the conversations without prosecutor approval.

After being instructed by his superiors to obtain approval from prosecutors (albeit retroactively), Dodson's proposal was later rejected by his immediate superior David Voth, although he later received permission from Voth's supervisor after submitting a written proposal for the program. On June 1, 2010, Dodson used $2,500 of ATF funds to purchase six AK Draco pistols from local gun dealers, which he then gave to Mr. Fernandez, who reimbursed him for the expense of the guns, plus $700 for his assistance. Two days later, Agent Dodson went on a scheduled vacation without interdicting the weapons. As a result, the weapons were never recovered, no arrests were ever made, and the case was closed without charges being filed.

According to the DOJ OIG report, Agent Dodson, as the undercover posing as a straw buyer, was not expected to surveil the weapons after hand-off to Fernandez. Other ATF agents followed the weapons to a storage facility; then surveillance was terminated without interdiction.

Aftermath and reaction

Fate of walked guns

Since the end of Operation Fast and Furious, related firearms have continued to be discovered in criminal hands. As reported in September 2011, the Mexican government stated that an undisclosed number of guns found at about 170 crime scenes were linked to Fast and Furious. Reflecting on the operation, Attorney General Eric Holder said that the United States government is "...losing the battle to stop the flow of illegal guns to Mexico," and that the effects of Operation Fast and Furious will most likely continue to be felt for years, as more walked guns appear at Mexican crime scenes.

In April 2011, a large cache of weapons, 40 traced to Fast and Furious but also including military-grade weapons difficult to obtain legally in the US such as an anti-aircraft machine gun and grenade launcher, was found in the home of Jose Antonio Torres Marrufo, a prominent Sinaloa Cartel member, in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Torres Marrufo was indicted, but evaded law enforcement for a brief time. Finally, on February 4, 2012, Marrufo was arrested by the Mexican Police.

On May 29, 2011, four Mexican Federal Police helicopters attacked a cartel compound, where they were met with heavy fire, including from a .50 BMG caliber rifle. According to a report from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, this rifle is likely linked to Fast and Furious.

There have been questions raised over a possible connection between Fast and Furious and the death of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata on February 15, 2011. The gun used to kill Zapata was purchased by Otilio Osorio in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, Texas (outside the area of responsibility for the ATF Phoenix field division which conducted Fast and Furious), and then smuggled into Mexico. Congressional investigators have stated that Osorio was known by the ATF to be a straw purchaser months before he purchased the gun used to kill Zapata, leading them to question ATF surveillance tactics

In addition to Otilio Osorio, a Texas-based drug and gun trafficker, Manuel Barba, was involved in trafficking another of the guns recovered in the Zapata shooting. The timeline of this case, called "Baytown Crew", shows guns were allowed to walk during surveillance that began June 7, 2010. On August 20, 2010, Barba received a rifle later recovered in the Zapata ambush and sent it with nine others to Mexico. The warrant for Barba's arrest was issued February 14, 2011, the day before Zapata was shot. On January 30, 2012, Barba, who claimed to be working with Los Zetas in illegally exporting at least 44 weapons purchased through straw buyers, was sentenced to 100 months in prison.

On November 23, 2012, two firearms linked to the ATF were found at the scene of a shootout between Sinaloa cartel members and the Mexican military. One of the weapons was a Kalashnikov style WASR-10 rifle trafficked by Fast and Furious suspect Uriel Patino, and the other was an FN Herstal pistol originally purchased by an ATF agent. Mexican beauty queen Maria Susana Flores Gamez and four others were killed.

One of the nineteen guns Mexican authorities said they found at the hideout of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, after his January 2016 capture, was associated with the Fast and Furious operation. The Justice Department confirmed that the .50 BMG caliber rifle was bought in July 2010 in a straw purchase by someone not known to the ATF at the time, and stated the weapon was not associated with any other crime. In a letter to Congressional leaders, Assistant Attorney General Peter Kadzik, head of the Justice Department's legislative affairs office, wrote, "ATF and the department deeply regret that firearms associated with Operation Fast and Furious have been used by criminals in the commission of violent crimes, particularly crimes resulting in the deaths of civilians and law enforcement officials."

Investigations and fallout

In the U.S. Congress, Representative Darrell Issa (R–CA–49), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Senator Chuck Grassley (R–IA), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led investigations of gunwalking operations. There were investigations by the United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General and others.

2011

On January 27, 2011, Grassley wrote a letter to ATF Acting Director Kenneth E. Melson requesting information about the ATF-sanctioned sale of hundreds of firearms to straw purchasers. The letter mentioned a number of allegations that walked guns were used in the fight that killed Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. A second letter from Grassley on January 31 accused the ATF of targeting whistleblowers.

On February 4, 2011, after review and comment from dozens of officials in the Justice Department Criminal Division, the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix, and ATF Headquarters, On February 28, Attorney General Eric Holder requested that the Department of Justice's Inspector General begin an investigation of Fast and Furious.

On March 22, 2011, President Barack Obama appeared on Univision and spoke about the gunwalking controversy. He said that neither he nor Attorney General Holder authorized Fast and Furious. He also stated, "There may be a situation here in which a serious mistake was made, and if that's the case then we'll find out and we'll hold somebody accountable."

On May 3, 2011, Attorney General Holder testified to the House Judiciary Committee that he did not know who approved Fast and Furious, but that it was being investigated. He also stated that he "probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks," a claim which would later be questioned as explained below.

In June, ATF Agent Vince Cefalu, who helped to publicize Fast and Furious, was served with termination papers, in a move by the agency he described as politically motivated retaliation. He had been at odds with ATF management since he filed a complaint over tactics in an unrelated case in 2005. The ATF denied that the firing was retaliation, and Cefalu's termination letter noted that he leaked documents to the Internet and showed a "lack of candor" in other operations.

On June 14, 2011, a preliminary joint staff report was released by Representative Issa and Senator Grassley. Agents were panicked, certain that "someone was going to die".

Representative Issa continued to hold hearings in June and July where ATF officials based in Phoenix and Mexico, and at headquarters in Washington, testified before the committee. ATF agent John Dodson stated that he and other agents were ordered to observe the activities of gun smugglers but not to intervene. He testified:

A second joint staff report was released by the Republicans on July 26.

In August, three important Fast and Furious supervisors were transferred to new management positions at ATF headquarters in Washington: William Newell and David Voth, field supervisors who oversaw the program from Phoenix, and William McMahon, an ATF deputy director of operations. The transfers were initially reported as promotions by the Los Angeles Times, but the ATF stated that they did not receive raises or take on greater responsibilities. In late August, it was announced that Acting ATF Director Melson had been reassigned to the Justice Department, and U.S. Attorney Burke announced his resignation after being questioned by Congressional investigators earlier that month.

In October, documents showing that Attorney General Holder's office had been sent briefings on Fast and Furious as early as July 2010, prompted questions about his May statement that he wasn't sure of the exact date, but had known about it for only a few weeks. The briefings were from the National Drug Intelligence Center and Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer. The Justice Department said that those briefings were about a different case started before Holder became Attorney General, and that while he had known about Fast and Furious, he didn't know the details of the tactics being used.

On October 31, 2011, after the release of subpoenaed documents, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer stated he found out about gunwalking in Operation Wide Receiver in April 2010, and that he wished he had alerted the deputy or the attorney general at the time. The following day, in testimony before the Senate Judicial Committee in a hearing on International Organized Crime, when asked if he had reviewed the letter before it was sent to Senator Charles Grassley on February 4, 2011, denying gunwalking, Breuer replied, "I cannot say for sure whether I saw a draft of the letter that was sent to you. What I can tell you, Senator, is that at that time I was in Mexico dealing with the very real issues that we're all so committed to."

On November 8, 2011, Holder stated for the first time in Congressional testimony that gunwalking was used in Fast and Furious. He remarked that the tactic is unacceptable, and that the operation was "flawed in its concept and flawed in its execution". He further stated that his office had inaccurately described the program in previous letters sent to Congress, but that this was unintentional. Reiterating previous testimony, he said that he and other top officials had been unaware that the gunwalking tactic was being used. Holder stated that his staff had not shown him memos about the program, noting, "There is nothing in any of those memos that indicates any of those inappropriate tactics that are of concern. Those things were not brought to my attention, and my staff, I think, made the correct decision in that regard."

That same month, ex-U.S. Attorney Burke admitted to leaking sensitive documents about ATF agent and whistleblower Dodson. Senator Grassley expressed concern that the Justice Department was using Burke as a scapegoat to protect higher officials and vowed to continue his probe.

On December 2, 2011, the Justice Department formally withdrew its statement of February 4, 2011, denying gunwalking, due to inaccuracies.

Later that month, documents showed that some ATF agents discussed using Fast and Furious to provide anecdotal cases to support controversial new rules about gun sales. The regulation, called Demand Letter 3, would require 8,500 firearms dealers in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas that "have a significant number of crime guns traced back to them from Mexico" to report multiple rifle sales.

2012

Investigations by Congress and the DOJ Inspector General continued into 2012. In January, Patrick Cunningham, who was the criminal division chief at the Phoenix office of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona and has since resigned, asserted his innocence and his constitutional right against self-incrimination to avoid testifying. Cunningham worked directly under Burke during Fast and Furious. He was subpoenaed because of the role he might have played in the operation, and in the letter sent from the DOJ to Senator Grassley in February 2011 that claimed the ATF did not allow weapons to be trafficked to Mexico.

On January 31, 2012, Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released a report titled, "Fatally Flawed: Five Years of Gunwalking in Arizona".

In May, it was reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General had begun to investigate Fast and Furious, with a report expected in October. The DHS had Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents assigned to the operation after becoming involved in late 2009.

On May 3, 2012, Congressman Issa released a memorandum to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that included a draft of a resolution to hold Attorney General Holder in contempt. In the memo, Issa described the connection between Operation Fast and Furious and the OCDETF program since at least January 2009, which would involve multiple executive agencies including the ATF, DOJ, DEA, FBI, ICE, and DHS. He questioned how, why, or if oversight by high level Justice Department did not occur in such an important case. He further described the tragic death of Brian Terry, the whistleblowers and their mistreatment, and the damage the operation had to US-Mexico relations.

On June 7, 2012, under the threat of being held in contempt of Congress for not turning over additional requested documents, Attorney General Holder appeared at his seventh Congressional hearing, where he continued to deny knowledge of gunwalking by high-level officials. By then, the Justice Department had turned over more than 7,000 pages of documents.

During the June 12, 2012, Senate hearing, Eric Holder stated, "If you want to talk about Fast and Furious, I'm the Attorney General that put an end to the misguided tactics that were used in Fast and Furious. An Attorney General who I suppose you would hold in higher regard was briefed on these kinds of tactics in an operation called Wide Receiver and did nothing to stop them—nothing. Three hundred guns, at least, walked in that instance." Holder cited a briefing paper on "Wide Receiver"; the DOJ Office of Legislative Affairs later clarified that the briefing paper was about the Fidel Hernandez case, prepared for Holder's predecessor, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey before his meeting with Mexican Attorney General Mora on November 16, 2007. The Hernandez Case had ended October 6, 2007, before Mukasey entered office November 9, 2007. The office further explained, "As Attorney General Holder also noted in his testimony, and as we have set forth in prior correspondence and testimony, he took measures and instituted a series of important reforms designed to ensure that the inappropriate tactics used in Fast and Furious, Wide Receiver, Hernandez, and other matters about which the Department has informed Congress are not repeated." The later DOJ OIG investigation concluded "Attorney General Mukasey was not briefed about Operation Wide Receiver or gun 'walking,' but on a different and traditional law enforcement tactic that was employed in a different case."

On June 20, 2012, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted along party lines to recommend that Holder be held in contempt. At issue were 1,300 pages of documents that had not been turned over to Congress by the DOJ. Earlier that day, President Obama had invoked executive privilege over those documents, marking the first time the privilege had been asserted during his presidency. Issa contends that the Obama executive privilege claim is a cover-up or an obstruction to the congressional probe.

On June 28, 2012, Holder became the first sitting member of the Cabinet of the United States to be held in criminal contempt of Congress by the House of Representatives for refusing to disclose internal Justice Department documents in response to a subpoena. The vote was 255–67 in favor, with 17 Democrats voting yes and a large number of Democrats walking off the floor in protest and refusing to vote. A civil contempt measure was also voted on and passed, 258–95. The civil contempt vote allows the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to go to court with a civil lawsuit to look into the US Justice Department's refusal to turn over some of the subpoenaed documents and to test Obama's assertion of executive privilege. Holder dismissed the votes as "the regrettable culmination of what became a misguided—and politically motivated—investigation during an election year," and the White House called it "political theater rather than legitimate congressional oversight". The National Rifle Association controversially lobbied for Holder to be held in contempt.

In June 2012, a six-month-long investigation by Fortune magazine stated that the ATF never intentionally allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels, in contrast to most other reports. Agents interviewed during the investigation repeatedly asserted that only one isolated incident of gunwalking ever occurred, and was performed independently by ATF Agent John Dodson (who later appeared on CBS News as a whistleblower to denounce the gunwalking scandal) as part of an unauthorized solo action outside the larger Fast and Furious operation.

On July 31, 2012, the first part of a new three-part report, Fast and Furious: The Anatomy of a Failed Operation, was released by Republican lawmakers. The report singled out five ATF supervisors for responsibility in Fast and Furious, all of whom had been previously reassigned. The report also said that Fast and Furious resulted from a change in strategy by the Obama Administration. The Justice Department was dismissive of the report, saying that it contained "distortions" and "debunked conspiracy theories," and that gunwalking tactics dated back to 2006. DOJ spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler, while critical of the report, did credit it for acknowledging that the idea for "gun walking"—allowing illegal sales of weapons on the border—originated under the Republican administration before Eric Holder took office in 2009. Schmaler noted that Holder moved swiftly to replace the ATF's management and instill reforms. On the same day, ATF Deputy Director William Hoover, who was one of the five blamed in the Congressional report, officially retired. The report included an appendix disputing claims in the Fortune article. Following its publication, Dodson's lawyer wrote the managing editor of Fortune stating the article was "demonstrably false" and that a retraction was in order. After Fortune did not retract the article, Dodson sued for libel on October 12, 2012.

On September 19, 2012, the Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz publicly released a 471-page report It found no evidence that previous Attorneys General had been advised about gunwalking in Operation Wide Receiver.

While the OIG report found no evidence that higher officials at the Justice Department in Washington had authorized or approved of the tactics used in the Fast and Furious investigations, it did fault 14 lower officials for related failures, including failures to take note of "red flags" uncovered by the investigation, as well as failures to follow up on information produced through Operation Fast and Furious and its predecessor, Operation Wide Receiver. The report also noted ATF agents' apparent frustrations over legal obstacles from the Phoenix Attorney's Office to prosecuting suspected "straw-buyers," while also criticizing the agents' failure to quickly intervene and interdict weapons obtained by low-level suspects in the case. The 14 Justice Department employees were referred for possible internal discipline. The Justice Department's Criminal Division head Lanny Breuer, an Obama administration presidential appointee, was cited for not alerting his bosses in 2010 to the flaws of Operation Wide Receiver. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein, who was responsible for authorizing a portion of the wiretap applications in Operation Fast and Furious and faulted in the report for not identifying the gunwalking tactics, resigned on the day of the report.

On December 4, 2012, the ATF Professional Review Board delivered its recommendations to high-level ATF managers, who would decide whether to accept them. The recommendations included firing William McMahon, ATF Deputy Assistant Director; Mark Chait, ATF Assistant Director for Field Operations; William Newell, Phoenix ATF Special Agent in Charge; and George Gillett, Newell's second in command. Two additional ATF employees, Phoenix supervisor David Voth and lead agent Hope McAllister, received recommendations for demotion and disciplinary transfer to another ATF post, respectively. It was reported the next day that McMahon had been fired. It was also announced that Gary Grindler, Eric Holder's chief of staff who was faulted in the OIG report, would be leaving the Justice Department.

2013

Agent John Dodson's book on his experiences in Operation Fast and Furious was released by Simon and Schuster on December 3, 2013.

2019

A settlement was announced in 2019 where both sides disagree with the prior court's orders and agree to continue to fight over privilege issues.

2020

Conclusion of a recent investigation 18 month multi-agency operation "Fury Road" results in 82 federal prosecutions; seizure of 128 firearms, 1 kilogram of heroin and cocaine base.18 month multi-agency operation “Fury Road” results in 82 federal prosecutions, DEA Press Release, October 15, 2020.

Related criminal prosecutions

On July 9, 2012, an indictment charging five men in the death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was unsealed. The FBI offered a reward of $250,000 per fugitive for information leading to their arrests. The indictment, originally handed up on November 7, 2011, charges Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga, Ivan Soto-Barraza, Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes and Lionel Portillo-Meza with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and other crimes. Manuel Osorio-Arellanes pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty and was expected to be sentenced in March 2013. , another of the suspects is in custody, and three remained fugitives.

On October 15, 2012, Danny Cruz Morones, one of the twenty individuals indicted as a result of Fast and Furious, was sentenced to 57 months in prison. He was the first of the twenty to be sentenced. He pleaded guilty to straw purchasing and recruiting others to buy guns. According to prosecutors, he bought 27 AK-47s, and his recruits bought dozens more.

In November, 2012, an undisclosed series of contractors working for CACI, Inc. on behalf of Department of Homeland Security were detained in a series of internal investigations. One outcome resulting in the wrongful imprisonment, enhanced interrogation and subsequent deportation of a federal contractor who whistleblew on colleagues were involved in the supply of arms and corruption. This was later revealed in evidentiary hearings that indicted agents had attempted to frame the leaking whistleblower contractor. The cases were later moved to federal court and dismissed under protected privilege of Attorney General Eric Holder's retained privilege. As of currently 2024 the matter remains partially sealed under classification despite some local news reports of the initial whistleblowers arrest.

On December 12, 2012, Jaime Avila Jr. received the maximum penalty of 57 months in prison for gun dealing and conspiracy. He pleaded guilty after two AK-47 type rifles purchased by him were found at the scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry's death. Federal prosecutors stated that, in addition to gun trafficking, he had recruited others to do the same. He was under ATF surveillance at the time.

In April 2017 a suspect in the 2010 murder of Patrol agent Brian Terry, Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes, was arrested on a ranch on the border of Sinaloa and Chihuahua, Mexico, by a task force that included the DEA, United States federal Marshals, the Border Patrol Tactical Unit, and Mexican law enforcement. With four cartel members allegedly in the same crew as Osorio-Arellanes in U.S. prisons for the crime–Manual Osorio-Arellanes, Ivan Soto-Barraza, Jesus Sanchez-Meza, and Rosario Rafael Burboa-Alvarez– the last alleged crew member believed to be still at large was Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga.

Mexican reactions

As more information on Operations Fast and Furious and Wide Receiver was revealed in 2011, Mexican officials, political commentators and media reacted with anger. Mexican officials stated in September that the U.S. government still had not briefed them on what went wrong nor had they apologized.

Due to several failed attempts at coordinating with Mexican law enforcement in the apprehension of suspected arms traffickers in the Wide Receiver and Hernandez cases,

Morales stated, "At no time did we know or were we made aware that there might have been arms trafficking permitted. In no way would we have allowed it, because it is an attack on the safety of Mexicans." In addition, she expressed that allowing weapons to "walk" would represent a "betrayal" of Mexico. In November 2011, it was reported that the Mexican Attorney General's office was seeking the extradition of six citizens of the United States implicated with smuggling weapons.

Mexican Senator Arturo Escobar stated after hearing about Operation Wide Receiver, "We can no longer tolerate what is occurring. There must be condemnation from the state," and that the Mexican Senate condemned the actions of the ATF.

Jorge Carlos Ramírez Marín, president of the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico from the Institutional Revolutionary Party, said "This is a serious violation of international law. What happens if next time they need to introduce trained assassins or nuclear weapons?"

Chihuahua state prosecutor Patricia Gonzalez, who had worked closely with the US for years, said, "The basic ineptitude of these officials [who ordered the Fast and Furious operation] caused the death of my brother and surely thousands more victims." Her brother, Mario, had been kidnapped, tortured and killed by cartel hit men in October 2010. Later, two AK-47 rifles found among the several weapons recovered after a gunfight between police and cartel members were traced to the Fast and Furious program.

Mexican Congressman Humberto Benítez Treviño, a former attorney general, called Fast and Furious "a bad business that got out of hand". He had also characterized it as "an undercover program that wasn't properly controlled".

Like many politicians, Mexican pundits across the political spectrum expressed anger at news of both operations. La Jornada, a left-leaning newspaper, asked "US: ally or enemy?" The paper also argued that after news about Wide Receiver, the Mérida Initiative should be immediately suspended. A right-leaning paper accused the US of violating Mexican sovereignty. Manuel J. Jauregui of the Reforma newspaper wrote, "In sum, the gringo government has been sending weapons to Mexico in a premeditated and systematic manner, knowing that their destinations were Mexican criminal organizations."

Allegations of deal with Sinaloa drug cartel

High-ranking Sinaloa drug cartel member Jesus Vicente Zambada-Niebla has claimed in court that the gang was financed and armed by the U.S. government as part of a secret deal to undermine other Mexican drug cartels. The deal allegedly began sometime before 2004 and lasted until at least March 2009.

Mexican news outlet El Universal has reported that Fast and Furious was part of a scheme to intentionally arm the Sinaloa cartel so that it could defeat rival drug gangs, as part of a secret 'divide and conquer' strategy of the U.S. government aimed at the long-term goal of wiping out all of the drug cartels, a strategy which had previously been employed in Colombia. It is also alleged that as part of the deal, the U.S. government agreed not to pursue charges against the Sinaloa cartel for drug trafficking in the U.S.

References

References

1. (November 2012). "A Review of ATF's Operation Fast and Furious and Related Matters". U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General.
2. (October 14, 2011). "AP Exclusive: Second Bush-Era Gun-Smuggling Probe". Fox News.
3. Savage, Charlie. (July 26, 2011). "Agent Who Supervised Gun-Trafficking Operation Testifies on His Failings". The New York Times.
4. Serrano, Richard. (October 3, 2011). "Emails show top Justice Department officials knew of ATF gun program". Los Angeles Times.
5. "ATF Fact Sheet – Project Gunrunner". ATF.
6. John Dodson, ''The Unarmed Truth: My Fight to Blow the Whistle and Expose Fast and Furious Hardcover'', Threshold Editions, 2013, {{ISBN. 978-1476727554. Hardcover: 304 pages.
7. "Congress starting ATF "gunwalker scandal" probe". CBS News.
8. Attkisson, Sharyl. "Attorney General Holder subpoenaed for documents in ATF Gunwalker Fast and Furious case". CBS News.
9. Ryan, Jason. (October 14, 2011). "Documents Highlight Bush-Era Incident Pre-Dating 'Fast and Furious'". ABC News.
10. Eban, Katherine. (June 27, 2012). "The truth about the Fast and Furious scandal". Fortune.
11. [http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20110805051454/http://oversight.house.gov/images/stories/Reports/ATF_Report.pdf The Department of Justice's Operation Fast and Furious: Accounts of ATF Agents], Joint Staff Report, Prepared for Rep. Darrell E. Issa and Senator Charles E. Grassley, 112th Congress, June 14, 2011.
12. Steller, Tim. (October 12, 2011). "Newell's role, Mexico's participation and more on ATF's Tucson operation". Arizona Daily Star.
13. Attkisson, Sharyl. (April 14, 2011). "Gun shop owner expressed concerns early on in "gunwalker" scandal". [[CBS News]].
14. Attkinsson, Sharyl. (February 23, 2011). "Gunrunning scandal uncovered at the ATF". CBS Evening News.
15. Murphy, Kim. (March 11, 2011). "Mexico demands answers on guns". Los Angeles Times.
16. Jonsson, Patrik. (July 26, 2011). "How Mexican killers got US guns from 'Fast and Furious' operation". The Christian Science Monitor.
17. Gerstein, Josh. (2016-01-19). "Judge rejects Obama's executive privilege claim over Fast and Furious records". Politico.
18. Gerstein, Josh. "Subpoena fight over operation Fast and Furious documents finally settled".
19. (September 21, 2009). "Gun Trafficking and the Southwest Border". Congressional Research Service.
20. United States Government Accountability Office. (June 2009). "Firearms Trafficking: U.S. Efforts to Combat Arms Trafficking to Mexico Face Planning and Coordination Challenges".
21. [https://archive.today/20130210164904/http://www.yourvalleyvoice.com/news/article_57879c14-420f-11e1-8e85-001871e3ce6c.html "Two San Juan residents get federal prison time for firearms straw purchases"], YourValleyVoice.com, McAllen Texas, January 18, 2012.
22. (March 1, 2012). "10 Sentenced for Involvement in Straw Purchase and Export Ring". U.S. Attorney's Office for the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
23. (2015-03-20). "What led to 'Project Gunwalker'?".
24. (June 14, 2011). "The Department of Justice's Operation Fast and Furious: Accounts of ATF Agents". Joint Staff Report Prepared for Rep. Darrell E. Issa and Senator Charles E. Grassley, 112th Congress.
25. Barrett, Paul. (November 18, 2011). "The Guns That Got Away". Bloomberg Businessweek.
26. "Informant: ATF "gun walking" went on for years". CBS news.
27. Horwitz, Sari. (October 7, 2011). "Earlier ATF gun operation 'Wide Receiver' used same tactics as 'Fast and Furious'". The Washington Post.
28. Attkisson, Sharyl. "Documents point to ATF "gun running" since 2008". CBS News.
29. Yost, Pete. (October 5, 2011). "AP sources: Bush-era probe involved guns 'walking'". The Seattle Times.
30. "ATF Emails Discuss Bush-Era 'Gun Walking' Program". Talking Points Memo.
31. "Letter dated June 14, 2012, from Senator Charles E. Grassley to U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., and Letter dated June 18, 2012, from U.S. DOJ Office of Legislative Affairs to Senator Charles E. Grassley".
32. [http://democrats.oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/documents/Fast%20and%20Furious.Minority%20Report.pdf Fatally Flawed: Five Years of Gunwalking in Arizona] {{Webarchive. link. (August 19, 2016 (Report of the Minority Staff, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member; Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, January 2012))
33. Horwitz, Sari. (July 27, 2011). "A gunrunning sting gone fatally wrong". The Washington Post.
34. "Department of Justice Cartel Strategy, October 2009". The Washington Post.
35. "Judicial Watch Sues Department of Justice and ATF for Documents Pertaining to ATF's "Fast and Furious" Gun-Running Operation". Judicial Watch.
36. Serrano, Richard. (August 11, 2011). "ATF's gun surveillance program showed early signs of failure". Los Angeles Times.
37. [https://www.justice.gov/oig/reports/index.htm Statement of Michael E. Horowitz] {{Webarchive. link. (September 21, 2012 , Inspector General, before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, September 20, 2012.)
38. Savage, Charlie. (August 30, 2011). "Gun Inquiry Costs Officials Their Jobs". The New York Times.
39. [http://www.grassley.senate.gov/judiciary/upload/Judiciary-ATF-06-15-11-Documents-Cited-in-Grassley-testimony.pdf Charles Grassley, "Charles Grassley Congressional testimony documents"] {{webarchive. link. (February 27, 2013 U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, June 15, 2011.)
40. [http://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Update-on-Fast-and-Furious-with-attachment-FINAL.pdf Darrell Issa, "Update on Operation Fast and Furious"] {{Webarchive. link. (September 19, 2014 House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, May 3, 2012.)
41. link. (October 20, 2011 , on e-mails between "Cooperating FFL" and ATF David Voth.)
42. Savage, Charlie. (July 18, 2011). "Facts Sought on D.E.A. Informants". The New York Times.
43. Serrano, Richard A.. (2012-03-21). "Drug lords targeted by Fast and Furious were FBI informants".
44. Serrano, Richard A.. (2012-03-22). "'Fast and Furious' probe: Chief suspect released more than once".
45. Serrano, Richard A.. (2011-09-27). "Informant helped smuggle guns to Mexico, investigators say".
46. Jeunesse, William La. (2015-03-26). "Main suspect in Operation Fast and Furious arrested twice before, report shows".
47. Yost, Pete. "2007 Justice memo mentioned gun-walking probe". Yahoo! News.
48. Serrano, Richard A.. (September 11, 2011). "Gun store owner had misgivings about ATF sting". Los Angeles Times.
49. Gerstein, Josh. (November 7, 2011). "Eric Holder: Effects of Fast and Furious will linger". Politico LLC.
50. Frieden, Terry. (November 7, 2011). "El gobierno de EU admite que pierde la batalla contra el tráfico de armas". CNN Mexico.
51. Serrano, Richard. (October 8, 2011). "Fast and Furious weapons were found in Mexico cartel enforcer's home". Los Angeles Times.
52. Ugarte, Marco. (February 4, 2012). "Mexico arrested Jose Antonio Torres Marrufo, the reputed enforcer for the Sinaloa drug cartel.". Los Angeles Times.
53. Serrano, Richard. (July 17, 2011). "Family of U.S. agent slain in Mexico demands to know gun source". Los Angeles Times.
54. Carroll, Susan. (October 22, 2011). "Slain ICE agent's family still searching for answers". The Houston Chronicle.
55. Perez-Trevino, Emma. "Straw purchaser of guns pleads guilty in Dallas; defendant linked to Zapata death". The Brownsville Herald.
56. "Phoenix Field Division". ATF.
57. Titus, Elizabeth. (November 8, 2011). "Cornyn Presses Holder on Alleged Texas Operation". The Texas Tribune.
58. "Timeline of "Baytown Crew" case.". CBS News.
59. Attkisson, Sharyl. (23 February 2012). "Second gun used in ICE agent murder linked to ATF undercover operation".
60. Attkisson, Sharyl. (December 19, 2012). "Pistol purchased by ATF agent found at alleged cartel crime scene in Mexico". CBS News.
61. Attkisson, Sharyl. (December 18, 2012). "Fast and Furious gun found at Mexican crime scene". CBS News.
62. link. (March 17, 2016 ; ''Time''; Eric Tucker & Alicia A. Caldwell; March 16, 2016)
63. Jeunesse, William La. (2016-01-19). "'Fast & Furious' rifle capable of taking down helicopter found in 'El Chapo' cache".
64. Serrano, Richard. (August 16, 2011). "Supervisors in ATF gun operation are promoted". Los Angeles Times.
65. Wagner, Dennis. "Phoenix-area gun store, ATF sting may be linked to shootout". The Arizona Republic.
66. Lott, Maxim. (February 2, 2011). "Senator Calls ATF on Allegations Agency Is Allowing Guns Into Mexico". Fox News.
67. Weich, Ronald. "Letter dated February 4, 2011, from U.S. Department of Justice to Senator Charles E. Grassley". United States Senate.
68. Serrano, Richard. (December 24, 2011). "Angry former ATF chief blames subordinates for Fast and Furious". Los Angeles Times.
69. Attkisson, Sharyl. "Obama on "gunwalking": Serious mistake may have been made". CBS News.
70. [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/event/193481 Attorney General Eric Holder Testimony Before the House Judiciary Committee] {{Webarchive. link. (November 6, 2012 ; [[C-SPAN]]; May 3, 2011.)
71. Hennessey, Kathleen. (November 9, 2011). "Senate grills Holder on Fast and Furious gun-trafficking sting". Los Angeles Times.
72. Attkisson, Sharyl. "Attorney General Eric Holder grilled by Congress on ATF "Gunwalker" controversy". CBS News.
73. Lott, Maxim. (June 27, 2011). "'Project Gunrunner' Whistleblower Says ATF Sent Him Termination Notice". Fox News.
74. Murphy, Kim. (June 14, 2011). "Report describes gun agents' 'state of panic'". Los Angeles Times.
75. La Jeunesse, William. (June 10, 2011). "Justice Officials in 'Panic Mode' as Hearing Nears on Failed Anti-Gun Trafficking Program". Fox News.
76. Johnson, Kevin. (June 16, 2011). "ATF agent calls gun-tracking program a 'disaster'". USA Today.
77. Holub, Hugh. "Statement of John Dodson about ATF gunwalker scandal: 'The very idea of letting guns walk is unthinkable to most law enforcement.'". Tucson Citizen.
78. Serrano, Richard. (August 17, 2011). "ATF denies it promoted Fast and Furious supervisors". Los Angeles Times.
79. Attkisson, Sharyl. "Gunwalker scandal: ATF director out of top job". CBS News.
80. Attkisson, Sharyl. "ATF Fast and Furious: New documents show Attorney General Eric Holder was briefed in July 2010". CBS News.
81. Frieden, Terry. (2011-11-01). "Top Justice official expresses regret for failure to warn on 'gun walking'".
82. [https://www.npr.org/2011/11/01/141891064/official-admits-mistake-in-gun-trafficking-case Carrie Johnson, "Official Admits 'Mistake' In Gun-Trafficking Case"] {{Webarchive. link. (July 4, 2018 NPR, November 1, 2011.)
83. "International Organized Crime".
84. Attkisson, Sharyl. "Eric Holder calls gunwalking unacceptable, regrets tactic as part of Fast and Furious". CBS News.
85. "Holder emails".
86. [http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/11/09/20111109burke-admits-leaking-whistle-blowers-records.html Dennis Wagner, "Ex-U.S. Attorney Burke admits to leaking whistle-blower's records"] {{Webarchive. link. (July 16, 2012 The Arizona Republic, November 10, 2011.)
87. [https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/12/02/143067851/justice-withdraws-inaccurate-fast-and-furious-letter-it-sent-to-congress Carrie Johnson, "Justice Withdraws Inaccurate 'Fast And Furious' Letter It Sent To Congress"] {{Webarchive. link. (May 5, 2015 NPR, December 2, 2011.)
88. [http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-57338546-10391695/documents-atf-used-fast-and-furious-to-make-the-case-for-gun-regulations/ Sharyl Attkisson, "Documents: ATF used "Fast and Furious" to make the case for gun regulations"] {{Webarchive. link. (December 8, 2011 , CBS News, December 7, 2011.)
89. Savage, Charlie. (January 31, 2012). "Report by House Democrats Absolves Administration in Gun Trafficking Case". The New York Times.
90. Yager, Jordy. (January 20, 2012). "Federal officer invokes Fifth in 'Fast and Furious' investigation". The Hill.
91. Yost, Pete. (February 1, 2012). "Dems: Fast & Furious just 1 of 4 misguided probes".
92. Attkisson, Sharyl. (May 22, 2012). "Homeland Security IG Investigates Fast and Furious". CBS News.
93. Issa, Darrell. (May 3, 2012). "Update on Operation Fast and Furious".
94. Frieden, Terry. (June 7, 2012). "Holder rejects GOP assertions on Fast and Furious at House hearing". CNN.
95. link. (April 16, 2012 email from William Newell to Carson W. Carroll October 6, 2007.)
96. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/08/AR2007110802711.html Laurie Kellman (AP), "Mukasey confirmed as attorney general"] {{Webarchive. link. (March 12, 2017 , ''Washington Post'', November 9, 2007.)
97. Jackson, David. (June 20, 2012). "Obama claims executive privilege; Holder held in contempt". USA Today.
98. Dwyer, Devin. (June 20, 2012). "Committee Votes Attorney General Eric Holder in Contempt of Congress After Obama Asserts Executive Privilege". ABC News.
99. [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/26/issa-obama-executive-privilege-claim-either-cover-/ Issa: Obama executive privilege claim is cover-up or obstruction] {{Webarchive. link. (July 2, 2012 ; Washington Times; June 26, 2012)
100. Silverleib, Alan. (June 28, 2012). "House holds Holder in contempt". CNN.com.
101. (2012-06-28). "House Finds Holder in Contempt Over Inquiry on Guns". The New York Times.
102. [http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/02/politics/contempt-vote-political-survival/index.html NRA sends Democrats a message over Holder contempt vote] {{Webarchive. link. (July 4, 2012 ; CNN; July 2, 2012)
103. [http://nraila.org/media/7733622/cc-letter-to-issa.pdf NRA Letter to the committee – June 20] {{webarchive. link. (July 10, 2012 ; National Rifle Association; June 20, 2012)
104. (June 28, 2012). "House votes to hold attorney general in contempt". Fox News.
105. Grant, David. (June 27, 2012). "Why NRA wants Congress to vote Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt". The Christian Science Monitor.
106. link. (July 2, 2012 ; ''New York Times''; June 26, 2012)
107. [http://www.nraila.org/news-issues/in-the-news/2012/6/issa%27s-right-tougher-gun-laws-fast-and-furious-goal.aspx Issa's right: Tougher gun laws Fast and Furious goal] {{webarchive. link. (July 20, 2012 ; National Rifle Association; June 27, 2012)
108. "Fast and Furious: The Anatomy of a Failed Operation". United States Congress.
109. (August 1, 2012). "Justice Dept: Fast and Furious report distorted". CBS News.
110. Serrano, Richard A.. (July 31, 2012). "Justice Department shrugs off Fast and Furious report". Los Angeles Times.
111. Frieden, Terry. (August 2, 2012). "Deputy Director William Hoover resigns from ATF in wake of critical report". CNN.
112. (September 27, 2012). "Letter from Robert N. Driscoll to Andy Serwer re: The truth about the Fast and Furious scandal". Politico.
113. [https://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/10/exclusive-fast-and-furious-whistleblower-sues-time-inc-for-libel-147059 Dylan Byers, "Exclusive: Fast and Furious whistleblower sues Time Inc. for libel"] , Politico, October 24, 2012.
114. "Libel Complaint, John Dodson v Time Inc., 6:12-294-MGL". Documentcloud.org.
115. [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/us/report-places-blame-in-operation-fast-and-furious.html Charlie Savage, "Guns Inquiry Urges Action Against 14 in Justice Dept"] {{Webarchive. link. (February 23, 2017 . ''The New York Times'', September 19, 2012.)
116. Attkisson, Sharyl. (December 5, 2012). "Heads roll after Fast and Furious investigation". CBS News.
117. [http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2012/09/201292052721786157.html "Probe faults US agents over Mexico gunrunning"] {{Webarchive. link. (September 21, 2012 , Al Jazeera, September 20, 2012.)
118. [http://www.mainjustice.com/2012/09/19/criminal-division-deputy-weinstein-resigns-in-wake-of-ig-fast-and-furious-report/ Mary Jacoby, "Criminal Division Deputy Weinstein Resigns In Wake of Fast and Furious Report"] {{Webarchive. link. (January 25, 2013 Main Justice, September 19, 2012.)
119. [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323717004578159732025255610 Evan Perez, "Firings Set Over 'Fast and Furious'", ''The Wall Street Journal'', 4 Dec 2012.] {{Webarchive. link. (March 8, 2017 Subscription required.)
120. Chuck Neubauer. (December 5, 2012). "Firings advised for 4 ATF leaders tied to Fast and Furious". Washington Times.
121. Later that month, the family of Brian Terry sued seven government officials and a gun shop involved in Operation Fast and Furious for negligence and wrongful death.[http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57559582/brian-terry-family-sues-atf-officials-in-fast-and-furious/ Sharyl Attkisson, "Brian Terry family sues ATF officials in Fast and Furious"] {{Webarchive. link. (January 30, 2013 CBS, December 17, 2012.)
122. Katelyn Polantz. (May 8, 2019). "Settlement in Fast and Furious executive privilege lawsuit between DOJ and the House".
123. Gerstein, Josh. "Subpoena fight over operation Fast and Furious documents finally settled".
124. Phillips, Whitney. "Feds name 4 suspects linked to Fast and Furious". Independentmail.com.
125. (July 9, 2012). "Feds unveil indictments in Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry's slaying". CNN.
126. Perry, Tony. (October 15, 2012). "'Fast and Furious' defendant gets prison for buying guns". Los Angeles Times.
127. (December 12, 2012). "Fast and Furious suspect sentenced". CBS/AP.
128. (April 12, 2017). "Fast and Furious scandal: Suspected triggerman in border agent's murder arrested".
129. Hernandez, Daniel. (October 6, 2011). "Mexico: News of another U.S. gun-tracking program stirs criticism". Los Angeles Times.
130. Ellingwood, Ken. (September 19, 2011). "Mexico still waiting for answers on Fast and Furious gun program". Los Angeles Times.
131. (November 16, 2011). "México pide la extradición de seis estadounidenses por tráfico de armas". [[Expansión (Mexico).
132. (November 16, 2011). "Busca PGR extradición de implicados en 'Rápido y furioso'". Noticieros Televisa.
133. "Exige Senado mexicano reclamo a EE.UU por armas ilegales". Prensa Latina.
134. (October 6, 2011). "Mexico: News of another U.S. gun-tracking program stirs criticism". Los Angeles Times.
135. Murphy, Kim. (March 10, 2011). "Mexico lawmakers demand answers about guns smuggled under ATF's watch". Los Angeles Times.
136. (October 5, 2011). "EU: ¿aliado o enemigo?". La Jornada.
137. Michael Kelley. (August 10, 2012). "High-ranking cartel member speaks on Operation Fast and Furious". The World.
138. Rick Ungar. (January 14, 2014). "Was Operation Fast And Furious Really Part Of A Secret Deal Between The DEA And Mexico's Sinaloa Drug Cartel?". Forbes.