Muscatine

The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has announced that on Tuesday, July 26, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will convene another hearing as part of the ongoing investigation into the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ “Operation Fast and Furious.”  The committee called the program “a tragically flawed effort that is connected to deaths on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border.”

The hearing, “Operation Fast and Furious: The Other Side of the Border,” will feature the testimony of U.S. law enforcement officials who witnessed a different side of the controversial operation. These agents allegedly saw the steady stream of “Fast and Furious” guns recovered at crime scenes in Mexico and were given orders from superiors not to alert Mexican authorities.

This latest hearing comes amidst new allegations that the Justice Department sought to shift blame for “Fast and Furious” away from its political appointees.

A July 20 Washington Times article quoted the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), as saying, “Examining the accounts of witnesses who did not participate in Operation Fast and Furious, but were nonetheless disturbed as they watched it unfold is critical to understanding the scope of this flawed program.  This testimony is especially important in light of the Justice Department’s willful efforts to withhold key evidence from investigators about what occurred, who knew and who authorized this reckless operation.”

The hearing will be streamed live at http://oversight.house.gov.