Fast and Furious tie was flashed to the top

Less than a day after the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in Arizona, an aide to Attorney General Eric Holder was advised of the shooting's tie to Operation Fast and Furious.

NPR reports the disclosure based on documents released by the Justice Department on Friday evening:

The email messages show the former top federal prosecutor in Arizona, Dennis Burke, notifying an aide to Holder via email on Dec. 15, 2010 that agent Brian Terry had been wounded and died. "Tragic," responds the aide, Monty Wilkinson. "I've alerted the AG, the acting Deputy Attorney General..." 

Only a few minutes later, Wilkinson emailed again, saying, "Please provide any additional details as they become available to you." 

Burke then delivered another piece of bad news: "The guns found in the desert near the murder [sic] ... officer connect back to the investigation we were going to talk about — they were AK-47s purchased at a Phoenix gun store."

The disclosure raises even more questions regarding Holder's candor as he appeared before Congress last year regarding Fast and Furious and the Terry murder.

Appearing before the House Oversight Committee last May, the attorney general testified he had learned of Operation Fast and Furious only weeks prior to his committee appearance.

He's also testified on the matter before members of the Senate Judiciary Committee:



Mr. Holder is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee again next week.

NPR links to some of the emails in Friday night's DOJ document dump

post updated 12:25 pm EST 1/28/2012