prior to coming to phoenix i never heard of an operation which law enforcement officers let guns walk. the idea is unthinkable to most law enforcement. i and other field agents repeatedly raised these concerns with our supervisors. in response we were told we did not understand the plan. sean: july 4th, facing mounting scrutiny over the botched operation and calls for his resignation, melson appeared secretly before congressional investigators from the house oversight committee and senate judiciary committee where he testified that mistakes were made by atf and officials withheld information to protect political appointees at the top of the department. in a joint letter written following the meetings issa and grassley argued, if his account is accurate atf leadership appears to have been muzzled while the doj sent false denials and buried its head in the sand.
promised to get to the bottom of the problem. we know now that rick holder has been the source of the problem all along. sean: june 13th, first hearing on operation fast and furious was held by the house oversight . at the hearings committee chairman darrell issa grilled the an is at assistant ag. you said atf makes every effort to interdeck interdict weapons. isn t that statement false now with what you know? obviously, there have been allegations that call into serious question documents now provided lets you know that statement was false? that s why you are investigating and we re investigating. sean: testifying were three atf agents involved with fast and furious.
gun shops that line our shared border. the gun dealers themselves were warning these top officials things had gone wrong. obvious that the largest supplier to the mexican gun violence is not the dealers. they are using dealers as the scapegoats. sean: the atf an the sale of allowed the sale of 2220 firearms. 590 have been linked to criminal activity, including the december 2010 murder of border agent brian terry who was killed by suspected operatives of a mexican dug smuggling organization. internal atf e-mails confirmed that two of the weapons found at the scene had been purchased earlier that year as part of the fast and furious program. there are dead americans as a result of this failed reckless program. i take great exception to
every person responsible for all of this, no matter where they are, are brought to justice. sean: welcome to this special edition of hannity. tonight we investigate operation fast and furious. the controversial program initiated by the justice department s bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms. it grew out of the border initiative call project gun runner. when the program began under the bush administration in 2006, the purpose was to reduce firearms and explosives related to violent crime associated with mexican criminal organizations operating in the u.s. and mexico by preventing these organizations if unlawfully acquiring and trafficking firearms and explosives. for the program that began with the best of intentions expanded after president obama took office and veered sharply off course. empower activity that it set
promised to get to the bottom of the problem. we know now that rick holder has been the source of the problem all along. sean: june 13th, first hearing on operation fast and furious was held by the house oversight . at the hearings committee chairman darrell issa grilled the an is at assistant ag. you said atf makes every effort to interdeck interdict weapons. isn t that statement false now with what you know? obviously, there have been allegations that call into serious question documents now provided lets you know that statement was false? that s why you are investigating and we re investigating. sean: testifying were three atf agents involved with fast and furious.