“Fast and Furious”Guns Show Up at More Crime Scenes

Sharyl Attkisson,CBSNews.com

There are new details on the scope of violence surrounding thousands of weapons federal agents allegedly allowed to fall into the hands of criminals. The Justice Department reports “Fast and Furious”guns have been recovered at 11 violent crime scenes in the United States. Those crime scenes,in addition to the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in Dec. 2010,puts the total number of U.S. crime scenes connected to “Fast and Furious”at 12.

The number is provided for the first time in a written response to Republicans investigating the gunwalker scandal. In the case,agents from the Bureau of Alcohol,Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) say they were ordered to allow thousands of weapons into the hands of suspected gun traffickers for Mexican drug cartels. In its letter,the Justice Department indicates it doesn’t have enough information to know how many weapons have been used in violent crimes south of the border in Mexico.

Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) are leading the Congressional probe. Today,they issued a sharp letter accusing the Department of Justice (DOJ) of playing “word games,”and reneging on its agreement. The agreement provided that Congress would allow the nomination of the Justice Department’s choice for Deputy Attorney General,James Cole,to move forward in June. In return,the Justice Department would give detailed answers to specific questions about the ATF gunwalker scandal. The Justice Department did provide some answers but,according to the Republicans,fell short of providing the full and complete responses promised. For example,the DOJ allegedly failed to provide all available details of the 11 violent crimes. The Justice Department says it’s reviewing the letter.

In their letter,Grassley and Issa also say….

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