Eric Holder cleared in Fast and Furious report Operation Fast and Furious began in 2009 but within months federal agents had begun to lose track of the guns they were supposed to be monitoring and soon the weapons began to turn up next to bodies on both sides of the US-Mexican border. The investigation transformed into a political scandal after two ATF-tracked guns were found at the scene of a December 2010 shootout that left US Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry dead. While it remains unclear whether Mr Terry was killed by a weapon that authorities had allowed to be smuggled, the killing highlighted how little control investigators had over how the guns were being used. A committee from the Republican-controlled House of Representatives launched an investigation into the scandal and later voted to hold Mr Holder in contempt because of his alleged refusal to hand over documents. Mr Holder claimed vindication on Wednesday even though his department was severely criticised for its role. "It is unfortunate that some were so quick to make baseless accusations before they possessed the facts about these operations - accusations that turned out to be without foundation and that have caused a great deal of unnecessary harm and confusion," he said. There were also sighs of relief in the White House where aides to President Barack Obama feared that a more damning report could have forced the resignation of a senior member of the cabinet just weeks before November's election. The DoJ's inspector general, who is independent of the politically-appointed Mr Holder, concluded that there had been a "series of misguided strategies, tactics, errors in judgment, and management failures" at both the ATF and the DoJ. Kenneth Melson, the former Director of the ATF, announced his retirement upon the report's publication while Jason Weinstein, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, resigned. However, Mr Holder also refused to sack Mr Weinstein's boss, Lanny Breuer, who was also named in the report and who has been the target of repeated criticism by Congress.