“Operation Fast and Furious” was a secret operation no one was ever supposed to find out about. The administration wanted to bolster its claims that straw purchasers in the United States were the cause of Mexican drug cartel violence. So, the Justice Department conspired to allow, encourage and engage in illegal gun-smuggling, knowing full well that those thousands of guns were heading straight to the cartels. They ran a massive campaign out of the Department of Justice and the White House to manipulate the media and public opinion, when they knew the truth all along.