U.S. lawmakers released a report Monday that blames five top federal officials for the gunwalking scandal known as Fast and Furious.
The report is based on emails and interviews with Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms officials over a two year period. In late 2010, those ATF officials learned one of the trafficked guns was used to kill the brother of a Mexican law enforcement official. But they chose not to inform Mexico of the operation.
The report was released by Republicans Congressman Darrell Issa and Senator Chuck Grassley. It blames Washington-level ATF officials for not learning about the program earlier and when they did learn of it, for not acting more quickly.
The internal ATF emails show a high level of concern for how the operation would look to the public. When two of the guns were found at Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s murder, an ATF supervisor sent an email to a subordinate. It said, "Ugh! Call as soon as you can. Things will most likely get ugly."
The Justice Department told The Associated Press the Republicans are distorting their findings.
