J. Scott Applewhite - AP
Attorney General Eric Holder testifies Tuesday about the government's arms trafficking investigation.
WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday acknowledged serious mistakes in an arms-trafficking probe that allowed AK-47s and other weapons to leak into the black market, but he insisted the Justice Department was taking steps to ensure that never happens again.
Under pointed questioning by Republicans, Holder also expressed regret that the Justice Department had denied allegations of "gun-walking" in a letter to Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley sent earlier this year.
"Unfortunately, we will feel its effects for years to come as guns that were lost during this operation continue to show up at crime scenes both here and in Mexico," Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee of the investigation, known as Operation Fast and Furious.
Grassley said it represented an "utter failure" by federal law enforcement officials to enforce existing gun laws.
The purchases of more than 2,000 weapons aroused the suspicion of Fast and Furious investigators, but the suspected straw buyers of those guns were allowed to walk out of Phoenix-area gun shops with AK-47s and other weapons, rather than being arrested.
The goal was to track those weapons to gun-trafficking ring leaders, suspected to include Mexican drug lords, who had long eluded prosecution. But agents lost track of about 1,400 of the guns. As of Oct. 20, 276 guns in Fast and Furious have been recovered in Mexico and 389 recovered in the United States.
The letter from the Justice Department to Grassley in February said federal agents make "every effort" to intercept weapons that have been purchased illegally and prevent their transportation to Mexico. Holder said the letter to Grassley was based on information the Justice Department received from the U.S. attorney's office in Phoenix and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Washington.
Holder said he first heard allegations of problems in Fast and Furious early this year, prompting Cornyn to ask whether he should have known earlier.
"I have ultimate responsibility for that which happens in the department, but I cannot be expected to know the details for every operation ... on a day-to-day basis," replied Holder.
