The report finds that gunwalking operations originated as early as 2006 as agents in the Phoenix Field Division of ATF devised a strategy to forgo arrests against low-level straw purchasers while they attempted to build bigger cases against higher-level trafficking organizers and financiers. Rather than halting operations after flaws became evident, they launched several similarly reckless operations over the course of several years, also with tragic results.
The documents obtained and interviews conducted by the Committee reflect that Operation Fast and Furious was the latest in a series of fatally flawed operations run by ATF agents in Phoenix and the Arizona U.S. Attorney’s Office. Far from a strategy that was directed and planned by "the highest levels" of the Department of Justice, as some have alleged, the Committee has obtained no evidence that Operation Fast and Furious was conceived or directed by high-level political appointees at Department of Justice headquarters.
...The Committee has obtained no evidence indicating that the Attorney General authorized gunwalking or that he was aware of such allegations before they became public. None of the 22 witnesses interviewed by the Committee claims to have spoken with the Attorney General about the specific tactics employed in Operation
Fast and Furious prior to the public controversy.
Operation Fast and Furious was the fourth gunwalking operation since 2006. Who does the report blame? In a letter accompanying the report, Rep. Elijah Cummings lists: The ATF, under both the current and former Administrations; lax oversight by the Arizona U.S. Attorneys office in failing to agressively prosecute firearms cases; and the federal courts in Arizona for sentencing leniency towards "trafficking networks that fuel armed
violence in Mexico."
The report also finds that Bush Attorney General Michael Mukasey knew about failed gunwalking operations. More from Cummings' letter:
The Committee obtained documents indicating that in 2007 he was personally informed about the failure of previous law enforcement operations involving the illegal smuggling of weapons into Mexico, and that he received a proposal to expand these operations. Since the Committee failed to speak with Mr. Mukasey, we do not have the benefit of his input about why these operations were allowed to continue after he was given this information.
As to support for Attorney General Eric Holder:
[T]he evidence received by the Committee supports the Attorney General’s assertion that the gunwalking tactics in Operation Fast and Furious were developed in the field. The leaders of the two components with management responsibility for Operation Fast and Furious—ATF and the U.S. Attorney’s Office—informed the Committee that they themselves were not aware of the controversial tactics used in Operation Fast and Furious and did not brief anyone at Justice Department headquarters about them.
Similarly, the Attorney General’s key subordinates—the Deputy Attorney General and the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division—informed the Committee that they were never briefed on the tactics by ATF or the U.S. Attorney’s Office and never raised concerns about the operation to the Attorney General.
The report contains a "Recommendations Section", available here. Among them: Enact a new federal crime to cover firearms trafficking; Provide more funding to ATF; Repeal the prohibition against reporting crime gun trace data.
Of course, this report won't stop Rep. Darryl Issa's transparent and politically motivated plan to topple Holder. He's accusing Holder of engaging in a cover-up, demanding more documents and threatening to hold Holder in contempt. Here's the letter he sent yesterday to Holder, telling him he was obstructing the investigation and deceiving the public, and giving him until Feb. 9 to supply the requested documents or a detailed privileged log.
