WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan (PA-07), a member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, today issued the following statement regarding the report released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael Horowitz about the failures of Operation Fast and Furious:

“The independent investigation and subsequent report by the Inspector General demonstrates widespread failures within the Department of Justice to identify the improper tactics of Operation Fast and Furious. As a former U.S. Attorney, I continue to be troubled by the facts in this case. Operation Fast and Furious was an extremely flawed ATF operation that allowed gun walking to take place. Yet, senior officials within DOJ failed to ask the appropriate questions despite having sufficient information of this reckless operation.

“The Inspector General’s report also shows that there was a failure to report to the Attorney General. This raises questions about the Attorney General’s expectations of his employees to ensure he is not left unaware again.”

The report states: “We concluded that the Attorney General’s Deputy Chief of Staff, the Acting Deputy Attorney General, and the leadership of the Criminal Divisionfailed to alert the Attorney General to significant information about or flaws in those investigations.”(p. 453)

“I am committed to working with my colleagues on the Oversight Committee in a bipartisan fashion to ensure the recommendations included in the report are implemented,” Meehan continued.

During today’s Oversight and Government Reform hearing, Rep. Meehan questioned Inspector General Horowitz about the report. Click here to watch that line of questioning.

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