Darrell Issa: “I thank the Speaker. I submit the following: House of Representatives, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform…”

“I thank the Speaker. I submit the following: House of Representatives, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Washington, DC, May 24, 2012. Hon. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Ranking Member Cummings: Last February, I joined Senator Grassley in investigating Operation Fast and Furious, the reckless and fundamentally flawed program conducted by the Phoenix Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). As you know, during Fast and Furious, ATF agents let straw purchasers illegally acquire hundreds of firearms and walk away from Phoenix gun stores. The misguided goal of this operation was to allow the U.S.- based associates of a Mexican drug cartel to acquire firearms so they could be traced back to the associates once the firearms were recovered at crime scenes. On December 15, 2010, two guns from the Fast and Furious operation were the only ones found at the scene of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry's murder. An Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (0CDETF) Wiretap Case Operation Fast and Furious got its name when it became an official Department of Justice Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Strike Force case. The OCDETF designation resulted in funding for Fast and Furious from the Justice Department's headquarters in Washington, D.C.…”