Lawmakers Step Up Probe of Gun Trafficking Operation.
By Evan Perez
A Justice Department office that oversees criminal probes signed off on wiretaps used in a gun trafficking investigation that is the subject of growing controversy over tactics that allowed guns bought in the U.S. to enter Mexico illegally.


Lanny Breuer, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, looks on during a ceremony in Mexico City in October 2010 marking the signing of U.S.-Mexico agreements to fight weapon trafficking and money laundering. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

The finding is from documents released Wednesday by Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. It’s the first document released so far that indicates high-level Justice Department involvement in the operation.

Mr. Issa has been investigating the Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives’ conduct in the investigation, dubbed “Operation Fast and Furious,â€