Gowdy Still Wants Answers After Inspector General's Report on Fast And Furious

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice's Inspector General released its much anticipated report on "Operation Fast and Furious." The internal investigation lasted 19 months and ultimately recommended that 14 employees be disciplined. Attorney General Eric Holder, who was found in contempt by Congress for his role in Fast and Furious, was not among those recommended for disciplinary action.

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-3), who has been one of the lead investigators of the Fast and Furious program for the House Oversight Committee, released a statement in response to the Inspector General's findings.

It is as follows:

“The Congressional investigation into Fast and Furious was always about pursuing justice for Special Agent Brian Terry and his family and holding the institutions of government responsible for its errors.  

"The Inspector General's comprehensive report delivered today confirms the legitimacy of this investigation. While we knew ATF was at fault for this flawed investigation the IG's report confirms the Department of Justice in Washington also had a failure of leadership including the very top of the chain of command in Attorney General Eric Holder.

“Further to same, many of us knew that any responsible reading of the wiretap applications would have put the reader on notice about the tactic of gun walking. The IG report confirms this.

“I am pleased the Department of Justice has agreed to release more documents. I call on the Attorney General to release all documents so the truth and nothing but the full, complete, and total truth can be known by the family of Brian Terry and our fellow citizens.”

Fast and Furious was a program run by the The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that saw the agency sell high-powered firearms to Mexican arms dealers and drug cartels. The goal of the program was to track the weapons and then link them to criminal organizations in Mexico and the United States. The program began in 2006 during the Bush administration under the name of "Project Wide Receiver."

The programs, commonly referred to as "gunwalking," have seen more than 2,000 weapons sold, 700 of which have been recovered. At least 200 Mexican citizens have been killed with weapons tied to "gunwalking" programs. 

Terry (referenced in Gowdy's statement) was a U.S. Border Patrol Agent killed by one of the "gunwalking" weapons in Dec. 2010. Terry's murder prompted the investigation.