Rep. Issa Sends 'Fast And Furious' Subpoenas To Holder, Other Officials

Saying "it's time we know the whole truth" about the so-called Fast and Furious gun trafficking operation, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today followed through on his promise to issue subpoenas to Attorney General Eric Holder and other high-ranking Justice Department officials.

"Top Justice Department officials, including Attorney General Holder, know more about Operation Fast and Furious than they have publicly acknowledged," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., says in a statement released by his committee. "The documents this subpoena demands will provide answers to questions that Justice officials have tried to avoid since this investigation began eight months ago."

As NPR's Carrie Johnson has written for us previously:

"The operation was designed to build big criminal cases against violent Mexican drug cartels and the people who provided them with Ak 47s and other high powered weapons. But instead, ATF agents in some cases lost track of the weapons under surveillance and they later turned up at crime scenes on both sides of the Southwest border, including the December 2010 death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry."

The Associated Press notes that, "earlier this year, Holder testified to Congress that he hadn't heard about the operation until early 2011. On Sunday, Issa said, 'That's just disingenuous on its face.' "

For his part, the AP adds, Holder has said "that his testimony to Congress about a controversial gun-smuggling probe was truthful and accurate and that Republicans are engaging in political posturing when they say otherwise."

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