But Holder's Friday letter digs a deeper hole for the attorney general. Holder denied in writing that he had ever heard of "Fast and Furious" "prior to the public controversy about it." The public controversy was the assassination of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry in December 2010 with guns the drug assassins got from the "Fast and Furious" buys.

In May 2011, Holder told Congress he "became aware" of "Fast and Furious" only "a few weeks ago." Last Friday's letter contradicts that statement.