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After 20 months, the inspector general concluded his investigation and published a report on the Department of Justice’s handling of “Operation Fast and Furious.” Inspector General Horowitz had a difficult job, and he did it well. While congressional oversight of “Fast and Furious” is by no means complete, the issuance of the inspector general’s report provides an appropriate opportunity for reflection.

There are at least three major takeaways from the Inspector General’s report:

(1) “gun walking” is an inappropriate and unnecessary investigative tactic regardless of which political party uses it, (2) Congress must separate the remedies needed to ensure similar investigations never occur from the “remedies” proffered that are rooted in political expediency, and (3) the Department of Justice is more than simply another agency charged with enacting administration policy.

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