failure to leadership, within atf, within the united states attorney s office. this is one of the most shameful moments in our government s history. this is one of the saddest days in my six years in congress. we will not rest until every single person responsible for all of this, no matter where they are, are brought to justice. welcome to the special edition of hannity. tonight we continue our investigation into operation fast and furious. the highly controversial program by the atf. we ve been following this story for months and it seems each and every week more information comes out that makes the scandal appear worse than previously thought. now the operation grew out of the atf s southwest border initiative called project gun runner which began under the bush administration with the intent of reducing violent crime associated with mexican criminal
operation for the very first time by spanish tv network univision. there may be a situation here in which a serious mistake was made. if that s the case, then we will find out and we will hold somebody accountable. on may 3rd, attorney general eric holder testified before the house judiciary committee. when did you first know about the program? i m not sure of the exact date but i probably heard about fast and four russ for the first time over the last few weeks. rewind to a 2009 arms trafficking conference in mexico where holder delivered a speech not only acknowledging project gun runner, but bragging about its expansion saying, quote, my department is committing 100 new atf personnel to the southwest border in the next 100 days to supplement our ongoing project gun runner. just days ago brand new documents were leaked to news organizations that indicate that eric holder also new about the program by july of 2010, according to the dated memo to
texas that likely took place under the operation, although officials will not confirm it. president obama was asked about the operation for the first time by spanish tv network univison. the president: there may be a situation in which a serious mistake was made. if that is is the case we ll find out and hold somebody accountable. sean: may 3rd, attorney general holder testified before the house judiciary committee. when did you first know about the program? i m not sure about the exact date i probably heard about fast and furious for the first time over the last few weeks. sean: 2009 arms trafficking conference in mexico, holder delivered a speech not only acknowledging project gun runner but bragging about its expansion saying: it is ironic when the dam first broke, eric holder
out to suppress in 2009, congress gave the atf, 21.9 million dollars to support and expand the program called project gun runner. one of the offshoots of the program was operation fast and furious which was run out of atf s phoenix, arizona field division. it incorporated a new strategy which allowed suspects to 7w%g0i away with illegally purchased guns in the hope that the straw purchases would lead law enforcement to bigger fish in the networks. it was then that this turned ugly. what we had was a toxic and deadly combination of incompetence, bureaucratic malfeasance and an anti-gun agenda. this sense that they needed to do everything in their power to smear gun dealers and blame them for the problem. more than 90% of the guns recovered in mexico come if the united states, many from
sean: welcome. tonight we investigate operation fast and furious the controversial program initiated by the justice department s bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms. it was called project gun runner. when the program began under the bush administration in 2006, its 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 from unlawfully acquiring and trafficking firearms and explosives. the program that began with the best of intentions expanded dramatically after president obama took office and veered sharply off course empower the activity that it set out to suppress. in 2009 congress kwaeuf the atf, 21.9 million dollars to support and expand the program called project gun runner. one of the offshoots of the