U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has admitted things went wrong when the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted a firearms-trafficking sting.
Now, Congressional Republicans, including U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming are calling for Holder’s resignation.
Between 2009 and 2010, Operation Fast and Furious permitted guns to be illegally sold and transported to buyers in Mexico to build a case against criminal organizations there. It ultimately allowed AK-47s and other weapons to leak into the black market. The operation ended after when Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed.
Lummis says Holder should be held responsible for the botched program and for the misleading information the Justice Department provided to Congress about how much it knew.
"The Mexicans thought there was a civil war going on," Lummis says. "Little did they know that it was the United States’ own Department of Justice and Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms that was sending these weapons into Northern Mexico. That’s inexcusable.
Holder insisted the Justice Department was taking steps to make sure such an incident wouldn’t happen again.
