By Richard A. Serrano, Tribune Washington Bureau –
WASHINGTON — Top Department of Justice officials largely dismissed a new Republican congressional report on the ATF’s Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation, saying Tuesday that they have moved ahead with major reforms to prevent future incidents of U.S. firearms being lost and smuggled across the border into Mexico.
Further, the attorney for the ATF special agent-in-charge in Phoenix, who oversaw Fast and Furious, lashed out at Republican congressional leaders, calling their report a “political witch hunt” aimed less at finding fault than pinning Democrats with negative political fallout from Fast and Furious.
The report by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, concluded that five supervisors at the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were collectively responsible for Fast and Furious, which allowed some 2,500 weapons to be illegally purchased in Arizona.
But Tracy Schmaler, the top spokeswoman at the Justice Department, said the report is filled with “distortions and now-debunked conspiracy theories.” She did, however, credit the report for acknowledging that the idea for “gun-walking” — allowing illegal weapons sales on the border — originated under the previous Republican administration before her boss, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., took office in 2009.
She said that Fast and Furious showed “weak oversight by ATF leadership” and that Holder moved swiftly to replace the agency’s management structure and instill other reforms.
“If Rep. Issa wants to continue to spend precious resources recycling old conspiracy theories for stale reports that do nothing to improve public safety, that is his prerogative,” she said.
Fast and Furious was shut down after a U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed in December 2010 and two of the weapons were found nearby. Since then, Holder has reassigned top ATF managers, appointed a federal prosecutor to run the agency and made several other key changes. They include an enhanced program to assist whistleblowers, a stronger policy on firearm transfers and additional training for federal agents.
Issa and Grassley stood by their findings. “Many officials at ATF and the Department of Justice,” Issa said, “would have preferred to quietly sweep this matter under the rug.”
