GOP candidates: Eric Holder should be fired for "Fast and Furious"

Pool,AP Photo/Eric Gay

Two Republican White House hopefuls called for U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to resign Thursday, even though he has said he only learned of the controversial aspects of the Fast and Furious operation earlier this year.

"If I'm the president of the United States and I find out there is an operation like Fast and Furious, and I found out my attorney general didn't know about it, I would have him resign immediately," Texas Gov. Rick Perry said in the Thursday debate, hosted by Fox News in Sioux City, Iowa.

In Fast and Furious, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms secretly encouraged gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels to go after the "big fish." But ATF whistleblowers told CBS News and Congress it was a dangerous practice called "gunwalking," and it put thousands of weapons on the street. Many were used in violent crimes in Mexico.

Wednesday was the one-year anniversary of the death of the border patrol agent Brian Terry, who was gunned down in Arizona near the Mexican border by illegal immigrants armed with weapons from the operation.

Perry criticized President Obama for traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas and saying it's safer than it's ever been.

"Our law enforcement... face fire from across the border," he said. "It is not safe there."

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum also said he would fire Holder if he were president.

"This is something he should've been aware of, something that shouldn't have started in the first place," he said, adding, "We need to pay much more attention to what's going on in our own hemisphere."

"We need a brand new initiative.. that says we will promote our values in this region and stop the spread of terrorism in Central and South America," he said.

More from the debate:

Newt Gingrich hammered for Freddie Mac ties
Romney praises Medicare overhaul proposal
Rick Perry hopes to be the Tim Tebow of Iowa caucuses
Gingrich, Paul challenge electability questions

[NotPartyControlled]

If Holder didn't know about F&F then he should be fired for incompetence. If he wasn't just running doing the administrations bidding then he would know more about what his department is screwing up.

[rightbehind]

They didn't mention one word about this program starting under the shrubs watch.

[ltjdanglee]

the bush admin had control of the operations and didn't let guns walk. Obama did it delibertly.

[ihavemydoubts]

Fast & Furious was a multimillion dollar operation, on going for more than a year, involved the ATF, FBI, ICE, U.S. Attorneys Office, and Homeland Security, but neither the AG nor any of his staff knew anything about it? The AG has lied to congress, refused to take the oath before testifying, and now, after stonewalling the investigation for 11 months, has flatly refused to turn over any more documents to congressional investigators. And you nit-pickers want him fired for that? Oh you silly Republicons, don't you know it's all Bush's fault. Really it is. If Bush hadn't so totally soiled his party, Obama would never have been elected.

[tsigili]

That's not all Holder should be fired over. There's a whole lot more, yet to be found out. The guy is like the Chicago mob.

[Rick03466]

It is amazing to me that 3 agencies that report directly to Mr Holder. The FBI informant that set up the purchases, the DEA that supplied the intelligence and the ATF that pressured legitimate dealer to make sales they knew were illegal and then "Walked" the Guns across the Mexican Border, in clear violation of international law. Mr. Holder Was Unaware? if this is the case he is PROFOUNDLY incompetent and needs to be resign or be fired. If as many suspect that this was part of a plan to justify further infringement on 2nd Amendment Rights then Mr. Holder and whoever else knew about this need to Be Prosecuted.

[gep1955]

Never in history has an attorney spent so much time suing people and states in his own country. He needs to go for the good of the nation.

[boatdocster]

Sad - they want to impeach Holder for the death of 1 border agent, yet no one wanted to impeach Bush or Cheney for the death of 4,500 Americans and perhaps 1,000,000 Iraqi's.

Says a lot about the GOP.

[ltjdanglee]

the war was bipartisan and LEGAL.

[AVRWEBGUY]

The war was bipartisan but based on a lie, not legal.

[Jim1900]

The NRA regularly argues for more guns on the streets. When are the Republicans going to get rid of them?

[MontanaLibertarian]

Just so you understand, the NRA does NOT call for more guns on the street. The NRA calls for less gun control. Whether anyone chooses to purchase a gun is an individual decision.

If you don't want to carry a gun, don't buy one. If you don't like abortions, don't have one. If you hate drugs, don't take them. But don't tell others what they can and cannot do. That's the whole idea here.

[Justme8811]

Should have been fired a long time ago...

[RSorge]

So we should fire the Attorney General for his ignorance, but the war criminal George Bush is not held accountable for initiating a war of aggression against a country that was no threat to the U.S., a war in which hundreds of thousands died and were horribly maimed.

Good thinking.

[Rick03466]

I don't accept it when a child tries to justify his actions "He did it first" so whining about Bush , certainly doesn't excuse Holder from the fact that Agencies under his control are responsible for 500 deaths in Mexico (as reported by the Mexican government) and the death of at least one Law enforcement office here in the states. Holder in my Humble Opinion belongs in court first in Mexico then here in the US.