william newell is the former atf special agent in charge of the phoenixville division and -- i am having a good day. mcmahon is the atf deputy assistant director for field operations west. and i apologize as usual for never getting the names quite right. pursuant to the rules of this committee, all witnesses must be sworn. would you please rise and raise your right hand and take the oath? do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? let the record reflect that all witnesses had said in the affirmative. thank you. please be seated. now even for this committee, this is a large panel. so, if each of you take five minutes, we have 30 minutes. if you take or than five minutes, the guy next to you will also take more than five

. >> 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 claims his agent tracked them when they didn't. and informed of the program in mexico, they testified he did not. why the widespread investigation was initiated and why it continued. >> i cannot believe that someone in the a.t.f. could so carelessly let the weapons get in the hands of criminals. >> the cartels-- >> that's insane, inconceivable, you would never think that because a.t.f. does not do that. >> of some 2000 guns sold, mexican police recovered 141. 122 found at crime scenes. and important in terms of who know what when, under questioning, newell admitted sharing information about kevin o'reilly, director of intelligence at national security counc

. >> slide eight, if we can get that up there and this is a and the e-mail from william newell to youon february, 2010. attached to this e-mail was an e-mail with a memo as we saw them pass the slide and the e-mail states attaches the covered memo requesting authorization to conduct the intercept on the suspect strike force firearm out of the phoenix and tunnell the fast and furious im fedex and that to you. do you recall receiving that? >> i don't recall that i obviously received that, yes. i don't specifically recall receiving this e-mail, nope. >> do you recall seeing the attachment? >> no, i do not, and i think the e-mail records show they were not able to scan the attachment because it was large and they said they were going to fedex it. >> who said that to you? >> it says that in the e-mail. >> it tells you it was too large? >> it says i could not stand the actual affidavit deutsch to its size so i am sending it so scanning it means attaching it to this e-mail. >> this is the request for a wiretap? >> this has the request for a wiretap attached to the e-mail. >> it's actually an

distinguished members of the committee, and william newell.s a former special agent in charge of the bureau phoenix division in june 2006 to may of this year i oversaw atf operations in the state of arizona and mexico which include 552 miles of the border. i appear before you today to discuss atf's operation fast and furious and ongoing strike force investigations of the large scale firearms organization. for the past 23 years i fully dedicated myself to confronting violent crime especially firearms along the southwest border. having served 15 of these years along the southwest border, and firearms in the year i am keenly aware of the violence is largely by mexico's drug cartels poses a serious challenge for u.s. law enforcement coming to this mexican law enforcement threatens the safety of civilians in of law enforcement personnel on both sides of the border. at the conclusion of a free investigation of the magnitude a review is appropriate to determine whether tactics, changes in tactics and strategy are in order. with that in mind i recogni

distinguished members of the committee, and william newell.former special agent in charge of the bureau phoenix division in june 2006 to may of this year i oversaw atf operations in the state of arizona and mexico which include 552 miles of the border. i appear before you today to discuss atf's operation fast and furious and ongoing strike force investigations of the large scale firearms organization. for the past 23 years i fully dedicated myself to confronting violent crime especially firearms along the southwest border. having served 15 of these years along the southwest border, and firearms in the year i am keenly aware of the violence is largely by mexico's drug cartels poses a serious challenge for u.s. law enforcement coming to this mexican law enforcement threatens the safety of civilians in of law enforcement personnel on both sides of the border. at the conclusion of a free investigation of the magnitude a review is appropriate to determine whether tactics, changes in tactics and strategy are in order. with that in mind i recognize i

. >> slide eight, if we can get that up there and this is a and the e-mail from william newell to youon february, 2010. attached to this e-mail was an e-mail with a memo as we saw them pass the slide and the e-mail states attaches the covered memo requesting authorization to conduct the intercept on the suspect strike force firearm out of the phoenix and tunnell the fast and furious im fedex and that to you. do you recall receiving that? >> i don't recall that i obviously received that, yes. i don't specifically recall receiving this e-mail, nope. >> do you recall seeing the attachment? >> no, i do not, and i think the e-mail records show they were not able to scan the attachment because it was large and they said they were going to fedex it. >> who said that to you? >> it says that in the e-mail. >> it tells you it was too large? >> it says i could not stand the actual affidavit deutsch to its size so i am sending it so scanning it means attaching it to this e-mail. >> this is the request for a wiretap? >> this has the request for a wiretap attached to the e-mail. >> it's actually an