While facing heated questioning from Texas Republican Rep. Ted Poe, Attorney General Eric Holder conceded more deaths are likely to result from the failed Operation Fast and Furious gun-walking program. The exchange occurred during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday.
“Would you agree that this operation was reckless?” Poe asked Holder. “Was it a reckless operation on the part of the United States?”
“I think the way it was carried out, I would certainly say it was flawed,” Holder responded. “Reckless? Yeah, I’d probably agree with that. I mean, it was done inappropriately and has had tragic consequences, and as I said in my opening statement it is going to continue to have tragic consequences.”
“More people are going to die, probably,” Poe interjected.
“Unfortunately I think that’s probably true,” Holder admitted.
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Operation Fast and Furious was a program of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and explosives which placed guns in the hands of Mexican drug cartels, ostensibly to track where they ended up. Most of the more than 2,000 guns distributed via the program have not been recovered. The firearms killed hundreds of Mexican nationals and at least one U.S. Border Patrol agent.