(GunReports.com) — The chairman of a House committee investigating the Fast and Furious gunrunning operation praised a report by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General on what went wrong in the bungled investigation but said more people involved need to lose their jobs.
Rep. Darrell E. Issa, California Republican, who heads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, on Thursday described the 471-page report by Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz as “extremely comprehensive, strong and independent,” adding that it confirms what the panel knew for some time: “The Department of Justice has let the American people down.”
Issa called the botched Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigation a “breach of the public trust,” saying it contributed to the December 2010 killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry and the deaths of “countless innocent Mexican citizens.”
He said all 14 people named in the report for sanctions or disciplinary action “should find new occupations,” adding that “when mistakes of this magnitude occur, senior officials must be held accountable.”
Mexican prosecutors say they will continue investigating the botched-gun smuggling probe even after the U.S. Justice Department internal watchdog report was published. In a Friday statement, the Mexican Attorney General’s Office says it’s looking at the document released this week to see what it could add to its own probe.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has been accused of knowing about the bungled operation, but the report cleared him and faulted mid-level and senior officials for not briefing him.
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