correspondent william la jeunesse looks into why. >> hi. >> hi. i'm looking for mr. carille? >> what is it regarding? >> are you aware of the gun indictment, the indictment regarding purchase of fire arms? >> at the center of fast and furious, 20 defendants all accused of trafficking guns to mexico. >> we feel very strongly that we have completely dismantled if not significantly dismantled major firearms throughout the organization. >> but that is not ok rate. despite serious charges we found most of the suspects at home. >> my name is william la jeunesse, correspondent with fox news. is there anything you want to say to the people who have been harmed by the guns that you bought? >> no. >> reporter: out of the 20 indicted, only one went to jail. the rest were set free. most within hours of their arrest. >> it's pretty scary. you think that there are a lot of people probably are not going to get out. >> the operation sought to tear down arms trafficking network from top the bottom from the end user in mexico to transporter and buyers. in the end, all prosecutors got was a mid

hands of drug cartels in mexico, and it was supposed to be like following this path, wasn't it, william la jeunessegure out who's behind some of these gun-running plans? you have the update. william? >> reporter: well, jenna, tuesday's hearing will focus on mexico and how a a tf kept its own agents in the dark. here's the irony. while publicly claiming that fast and furious took down a major violent operation, privately agents considered it a joke. while the atf quietly put 19 out of 20 suspects back on the street which is where we found them in phoenix. >> hi. >> hi. i'm looking for there carrio. >> and what's this regarding? >> are you awar of this indictment, the indictment regarding purchase of firearms? >> um, no. >> does that ring a bell? >> no. >> reporter: at the center of operation fast and furious, 20 defendants accused of trafficking guns to mexico. >> we feel very strongly that we have completely dismantled if not significantly dismantled a major firearms organization. >> reporter: but after thousands of man hours and millions spent going after that violent criminal a gang, we expected

william la jeunesse traveled to mexico city, he has details for us. william?porter: an embarrassment at home, a growing scandal abroad, jon, as mexico assesses the damage of fast and furious, the operation, of course, approved in the washington to flood mexico with guns. and even as casualties mounted, we refused to tell mexico what was happening. well, now many there feel it is time those involved pay the price. 21 dead in sonora, mexico. according to sources, the guns came complement of the u.s. government. >> we weren't giving guns to people who were hunting bear, we were giving guns to people who were killing other humans. [speaking spanish] >> translator: this program was a great mistake at its conception. it is just absurd. especially because human lives were put in danger. >> reporter: this senator is a former cabinet minister and undeclared presidential candidate. he says the u.s. government approved the sale of guns they knew were going south. >> it confirms what many mexicans believe, that there's this conspiracy from the united states to sell guns t

william la jeunesse is in los angeles with an update tonight. evening, william. >> reporter: congressman darrell issa and senator grassley are not prepared to call at it coverup but they say the testimony released today from the acting a.t.f. director nelson shows the justice department is actively withholding information and prohibiting people from telling the truth. in a letter today to attorney general eric holder the lawmakers warn him to stop stonewalling saying, "it's not a fishing expedition." time for d.o.j. to get out of spin mode and in disclosure mode. nelson claims he wanted to meet with congress about fast and furious and that the d.o.j. said no. they were more interested in protecting the administration politically. "it was frustrating," nelson said. "it appears thoroughly to us the justice department is trying to figure out a way to push the information away from the it will call appointees at the department." this doesn't surprise a former judge and u.s. attorney who reviewed the fast and furious indictment. >> there is no way yo

william la jeunesse has been on this story since the beginning, and he joins us with today's huge updatelliam. >> reporter: well, martha looking for answers and accountability today, congress got little of either in this fast and furious investigation. today we heard duplicity, lying, finger pointing and be a apologies for mistakes and poor judgment. now, this was the first time we heard atf management try to explain fast and furious. the agent in the charge, bill newel, evaded questions, entirely frustrating members of congress. >> what were you thinking? i think that's what we're all scratching our heads about here today. >> this is the moe, curly and harry show, and we're looking for larry. are they lying or are you lying? >> sir, in this investigation it's my opinion that we did not let guns walk. >> you're entitled to your opinion, not to your facts. >> reporter: newel insisted he did not allow guns to cross the mexican border even though facts showed he did. he claimed his agents tracked guns when reports prove he didn't. and they chided him for purposely putting thousands of guns

william la jeunesse, whether that effort was successful. >> this is one of the most shameful moments, i think in our government's history. this is one of the saddest days in my six months in congress. >> looking for answers and accountability members of congress got little of either tuesday in their fast and furious investigation. >> special agent newell, what were you thinking? i think that's what we're all scratching our heads about here today. >> this is the moe, curly and larry show, we're looking for larry. are they lying or are you lying? >> sir, this investigation we did not let guns walk. >> you're entitled to your opinion know the to your facts. >> agent in charge william newell repeatedly evaded questions. >> how many hundreds or thousands of weapons did you allow to be purchased knowing that they were going to mexico? >> sir, the purchase was being done by a criminal organization, a large-- >> but you facilitated it, you allowed it. >> the goal of the investigation was to disrupt this. >> he insisted he didn't let the guns cross the borders, documents show they did. he clai

william la jeunesse has been following this story all along. william?any buyers, jenna, but felons. under our gun-buying system the fb with i is supposed to stop people who have been arrested, booked or convicted of a felony from buying a gun. but our investigation found that officials compromised that system either accidentally or intentionally helping put some 2,000 guns in the hands of mexican cartels. >> that's a lot of guns, that was the first thing that came into my mind. >> reporter: this attorney represents the man accused of buying 19 straw buyers later indicted for smuggling guns into mexico. >> they walk into a store, they fill out a form, they buy a couple of rifles, they give it to the guy. >> reporter: it's not supposed to be that easy to buy thousands of guns when records show some of the buyers should have been denied. >> this is unconscionable, and it goes beyond just being a terribly ill-conceived investigation to bordering, if not crossing into criminal activity. >> reporter: to purchase a gun, every buyer fills out this form. it asks

fox news' william la jeunesse is live in los angeles. what do we know william? >> reporter: well, alisyn, we've been talking for months now that the alcohol, tobacco and firearms explosives agency was involved in this botched operation that sent guns to mexico. well now we're learning that it wasn't just the atf but other government agencies were involved, and, in fact, taxpayer money was likely used to buy these guns that were sent to mexico, and in fact, the guy who sent them there was actually an fbi-paid confidential informant. let's go with the director of the atf, his name is ken nelson, acting director, you can see him right here, now, he was scheduled to talk to congressional investigators next week, and to speak to the inspector general on thursday. however, in a secret meeting, on july 4th, the holiday, nelson, with his personal attorney, went in and spoke to congressman darrell issa and senator charles grassley and basically revealed this. let's go to the full screen. he said that atf leadership appears to have been effectively muzzled by the departme

fox's william la jeunesse is live in the los angeles. what more do we know about this, william?> reporter: well, imagine if mexican government purposely and knowingly sent thousands of pounds of pure cocaine into the united states as part of an investigation, and hundreds of americans died as a result? well, that is how mexico feels right now over operation fast and furious. angry and betrayed by the u.s. 21 dead in so mother rah, mexico. the guns recovered came complements of the u.s. government. >> we weren't giving guns to people who were hunting bear, we were giving guns to people who were killing other humans. [speaking spanish] >> translator: this program was a great mistake at its inception, especially because human lives were put in danger. >> reporter: a former interior minister and undeclared presidential candidate say the u.s. violated sovereignty by approving illegal guns they knew were going south. >> it confirms what many mexicans believe, that there's this conspiracy from the united states to sell guns to mexico. >> reporter: the numbers are overwhelming in a coun

william la jeunesse is live in los angeles with more. r: well, jenna this morning congress tried to get to the bottom of fast and furious. what we learned today is that lying and duplicity is alive and well at alcohol, tobacco and firearms. as top officials in washington and phoenix hid this program from their colleagues in the u.s. and mexico. secondly double speak. we heard the special agent in charge in phoenix bill newell leave members of congress speechless h exasperated and angry. he would say one thing, like guns don't walk, and the facts clearly show he allowed it to happen, he knew it and time and again it occurred under his watch. he said the purpose was to track the guns to expose the organization. agents have testified repeatedly they were not allowed to do that. even when they saw the transfer of money they were not allowed to follow it. congressmen repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to nail newell down. >> did you think it was a good program? it appears as though you thought it was a good program at some time. >> sir, as i said

william william la jeunesse is live in los angeles with the story. >> reporter: it's blowing up right now like a firecracker in the hands of the department of justice. in a letter from congress to the attorney general eric holder it claims the administration is actively involved in a cover up of the scandal we know as operation fast and furious. the scandal where an f.b.i. informant allegedly used taxpayer money to buy guns on behalf of the cartels. the letter claims the f.b.i. knew but did not stop him, nor did they share that information with the agency investigating him. and because of that you had the atf spend almost two years of work, thousands of man-hours and millions of tax dollars number one pursuing information other agencies already knew about, and a man they could never arrest or in diet because he was a confidential informant, not to mention the hundreds of people killed in mexico with those weapons that he bought. here is a diagram that may help explain this. the guys on the left are straw buyers under investigation by the atf for buying guns for the cartels. the guy in