The Justice Department Inspector General’s review of the flawed ATF program in which guns were allowed to “walk” across the Mexican border will include other investigations that used similar methods, according to the IG’s semi-annual report to Congress.
Documents the Justice Department has sent to investigators on Capitol Hill have shown that a separate investigation that used the flawed tactic called Operation Wide Receiver was run out of ATF’s Phoenix division back in 2006 and 2007. A memo to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, dated two days after he took office, said that ATF agents had unsuccessfully attempted a “controlled delivery” of weapons to Mexico that allowed the weapons to go into the country untraced.
Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer has said he regretted not making the connection between the gun walking tactics used during the Bush administration when the allegations about Fast and Furious first came to his attention in early 2011.
The Inspector General’s investigation will review Fast and Furious as well as “other investigations with similar objectives, methods, and strategies.” It will examine the “development and implementation of the investigations; the involvement of the Department (including ATF, the Criminal Division, and USAOs) and other law enforcement or government entities in the investigations; the guidelines and other internal controls in place and compliance with those controls during the investigations; and the investigative outcomes.” It is unclear when the investigation will conclude.
Ryan J. Reilly
Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.
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