There is new information about how much the Department of Justice new about the controversial ATF tactic of letting guns "walk" into the hands of criminals.

Gunwalking is a controversial investigative tactic in which police allow suspects to traffic guns without stopping them in order to see where they end up. Documents just released this afternoon show the head of the Justice Department's criminal division, Lanny A. Breuer, learned about the tactic of ATF gunwalking as early as April of last year.

In a memo, Brueuer's deputy wrote him that, in a case called "Wide Receiver" started under the Bush Administration, "ATF let a bunch of guns walk" in an effort to catch the big fish of Mexican drug cartels and said the gunwalking case could be "embarrassing" to ATF.

Today, Breuer issued a statement saying he "regrets" that he didn't alert others in Justice Department leadership, apparently including his boss Attorney General Eric Holder.

In a separate ATF case reported by CBS News earlier this year, called "Fast and Furious" and started under the Obama Administration, Breuer says he likewise regrets not alerting leaders about the similarities in the cases. That, said Breuer, was a mistake.

Republican Congressional investigators say this new information contradicts the Justice Department's original letter to them earlier this year insisting that gunwalking allegations were "false."

Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division released the following statement today:

"Throughout my tenure as Assistant Attorney General, one of my highest priorities, and one of the central missions that I have set for the Criminal Division, has been to work with out Mexican counterparts to fight the scourge of drug trafficking and violence in Mexico, and to address the public safety crisis along the Southwest Border of the United States. That is why, among many other steps, in 2009, I offered Southwest Border U.S. Attorneys' Offices assistance from one of the Criminal Division's experienced prosecutors to assist in gun trafficking prosecutions.

"In response to that offer, the Arizona U.S. Attorney's Office asked the Criminal Division prosecutor to assume responsibility for Operation Wide Receiver, and the Criminal Division's Gang Unit agreed to do so, despite not having been involved in the underlying flawed investigation of the matter by the Tuscon Field Office of the ATF's Phoenix Field Division in 2006 and 2007.

"As that prosecutor evaluated the case in the fall of 2009, she realized that ATF's investigation -- which had concluded two years earlier -- had included the use of misguided tactics that had resulted in ATF losing control of numerous guns that then crossed the border into Mexico. This information was brought to my attention in April 2010.

"When I learned of the unacceptable tactics used in Operation Wide Receiver, I instructed one of my Deputy Assistant Attorney Generals to schedule a meeting with ATF's Acting Director and Deputy Director to bring these issues to their attention. The next day, my Deputy met with the ATF Deputy Director and others to discuss this matter.

"In prosecuting the defendants in Operation Wide Receiver, the Criminal Division focused on how to ensure that those responsible for illegal firearms trafficking were brought to justice, despite the flaws in the investigation.

"Knowing what I now know was a pattern of unacceptable and misguided tactics used by the ATF, I regret that I did not alert others within the leadership of the Department of Justice to the tactics used in Operation Wide Receiver when they first came to my attention.

"When the allegations related to Operation Fast and Furious became public earlier this year, the leadership of ATF and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona repeatedly assured individuals in the Criminal Division and the leadership of the Department of Justice that those allegations were not true. As a result, I did not draw a connection between the unacceptable tactics used by the ATF years earlier in Operation Wide Receiver and the allegations made about Operation Fast and Furious, and therefore did not, at that time, alert others within Depoartment leadership of any similarities between the two. That was a mistake, and I regret not having done so.

"I remain more committed than ever to the Criminal Division's mission to fight violence in the United States and Mexico."

This is far worse than anything Nixon ever did.

This is a smoke screen trying to blame Bush and keep Holder and Obama out of prison.

Oops, update. Lanny Breuer is NOT admitting to knowing about Fast & Furious. But, he also doesn't flatly state that he DIDN'T know about it either.

He's apologizing for not admitting to telling about the Operation Wide Receiver gun walking. And because they didn't 'fess up to Bush's gun walking, this means they lied when the DOJ says they never allowed guns to walk.

Still doing that lawyer/politician 2 step..

And trying to shift all focus over to a screwup that happened under Bush, but was WAY different than Fast & Furious.

Here's his statement:

If Sharyl Attkisson doesn't get a Pulitzer for this series, something is SERIOUS whacked.

None of this matters.

This regime will throw anyone and everyone under the bus with the promise of a Presidential Pardon before Obama leaves office.These Dem sycophants will be good soldiers and take the blame,knowing full well they'll receive that pardon.

This will leave their messiah untouched.