On the recordDecember 7, 2011
the way I see the Fast and Furious operation based on all of the information that I have received, is that United States Government, Justice Department, ATF, we are aware of a situation where guns could be bought in the United States, serious weapons, automatic, semi-automatic, sniper rifles, bought by straw purchasers and were observed by Federal authorities, wanted to watch the guns go to Mexico, go to the drug cartels and see where they ended up.
Source
congress.gov
