The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is planning to subpoena Attorney General Eric Holder this week to determine who in the Justice Department knew about "Operation Fast and Furious" -- the plan to let thousands of guns sold in the U.S. get into Mexican drug cartel hands -- and when they knew it.

The subpoena targeting Holder aims to get at the heart of the authorization for the program, and when the people in charge decided the program was a problem.


"When did they know it wasn't the right way to do it and why (did) they keep doing it?" asked committee chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.

Issa, who is also a member of the House Judiciary Committee where Holder testified in May that he'd only learned of the program a few weeks earlier, told "Fox News Sunday" that "people in the top" of the Justice Department knew about the operation, were "well-briefed about it, and seemed to be the command and control and funding for this program."

Issa said those officials, who may or may not include Holder, would have known that the program was facing objections from law enforcement personnel in the field, but appeared to continue to let guns "walk" across the border.

"We didn't just have a few (guns) not be tracked. The whole program was about not tracking them until they were found in the scene of crimes. And they didn't just allow. They facilitated just one guy buy, one straw buy, over 700 weapons," Issa said.

On Friday, Holder issued a stern response to calls for a special counsel to probe the matter, saying he told the truth when he informed Congress he only heard about the program for the first time in April 2011. He added that earlier mentions of the program listed in at least five memos dated to 2010 did not indicate on first blush any problems with the program.

"I do not and cannot read them cover to cover," Issa wrote. "Here, no issues concerning 'Fast and Furious' were brought to my attention because the information presented in the report did not suggest a problem."

Freshman Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, said he can understand someone at Holder's level not reviewing every document that reaches his desk, but that when Holder knew he was going to testify about "Fast and Furious" to a House panel, he should have gotten brushed up on the program and its impact, including the murder of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry. Guns linked to Fast and Furious were found at Terry's crime scene.

Labrador told Fox News that the response from Holder leaves him with no option but to conclude dishonesty or incompetence.

"By the time Officer Terry had been killed, there were other crimes linked to these guns. Why did he not do the research and find out how much his office knew? He was either lying or willfully neglecting to do his due diligence before he came before Congress," Labrador said.

"If, in fact, a border patrol agent has been murdered, 2,000 weapons have gone, this program has completely gone off of the rails, why didn't he know?" Issa asked.

In his response to House Republicans, Holder said that his critics have political motivations and added that he takes issue with the allegation that federal agents were "accessories to murder."

"Such irresponsible and inflammatory rhetoric must be repudiated in the strongest possible terms," Holder wrote. "Those who serve in the ranks of law enforcement are our nation's heroes and deserve our nation's thanks, not the disrespect that is being heaped on them by those who seek political advantage."

But Pima County, Ariz., Sheriff Paul Babeu said his state's elected sheriffs, of whom nine out of 15 are Democrats, support a special counsel.

"My deputies and officers across the southwest could face the barrel of a gun that our own government, Eric Holder and the president, put into the hands of these criminals," Babeu told Fox News. "Whoever approved this should be criminally held to account for this."

Issa said a special counsel should be appointed because "Eric Holder cannot investigate himself," but he said he's not going to let that get in the way of his investigation, which has been conducted in conjunction with Senate Judiciary Committee ranking Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa.

"Our investigation, along with Senator Grassley, has to get to the bottom of this sooner, not later, because the American people and people in Mexico don't trust their government right now," he said.

Labrador said whoever came up with the Fast and Furious program "needs to be
fired."

"Anybody who failed to do their duty, because of this program, needs to be fired as well," he said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/09/new-subpoenas-prepared-in-fast-and-furious-probe/#ixzz1aJzN5zja

This just keeps getting better and better.

our own government, Eric Holder and the president


accusations that wont be proven,,,as our GOVERNMENT has many departments who at any given time have NO clue what the other is doing,,,and cant be seen as 'collectively' knowledgable on ANYTHING

One department not talking to the other is correct, the justice department includes the ATF, Holder And the president.

If this were President Bush you would be putting his a$$ through the ringer right now. This is pretty amusing.

The main reason I hate Obama is because he is not a man, this is a pefect example of that.

that mindreading stuff is not something u should pursue professionally,, seriously,,lol

actually, alot of crap happened under President Bushs watch that I dont hold him impeachable for at all, because I have no proof it was his order or to his knowledge,,,,

just like there is nothing on OBama that could be seriously held as impeachable as opposed to desperate last ditch attempts to take him out of the running

Bush and Cheney got the wars without impeachment,, nothing under OBAMA will raise to or above that level to justify an impeachement


just my prediction, but Im no fortuneteller

The main reason I love OBAMA is because he IS a man, a fther, a husband and a diplomat,, which are all more manly to me anyhow than impulsive, know it all, bully types overrun with testesterone and a need to constantly 'display' how much tougher they are than the rest of the world,,,,

but, everyones got their idea of a 'man' I guess

Congress and the Senate also approved those wars I didn't read anywhere that they approved this fiasco or Solyndra............

well, as superhuman as some of us are, IM sure there are lots of things happening that we dont ever 'read' about

thats why its best to withhold the judgement until we "KNOW" the facts,,,

A man can take RESPONSIBILITY for their actions and doesn't have to blame everyone else for everything. A an admits he made a mistake and moves on. Obama's vocab is President Bush, Republicans, inheritance, not my fault, I wasn't in office when this happened, or its one of his aides or appointees taking the heat for either his actions or stuff he was in the loop about.

Obama would be more respected if he actually aditted his mistakes and moved on.

I would imagine a LOAN that is to be authorized from the presidents office would need review by someone(Thats called checks and balances)

but I dont profess to be an expert,,,,


did they approve the haliburton contracts? did they have to work with BUSH and also receive his approval to get them?


the questions could be endless,,,