Napolitano Grilled Over 'Fast and Furious,' Likens Hearing to Cross Examination :: 10/27/2011

House Republicans on Wednesday turned their sharp questioning over "Operation Fast and Furious" toward Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano , who acknowledged her agents were twice told to "stand down" in deference to what she called a "very troublesome" operation.

Napolitano, at one point likening the questioning to a cross-examination, said repeatedly she only learned of "Fast and Furious" after Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed in December. She emphasized the operation, conceived and run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives , "was an ATF operation," under the auspices of the Justice Department , not her department.

Still, during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, outspoken Republicans wanted to know why she didn't press for more answers in the wake of Terry's death, and they called on her to meet more regularly with her Justice Department counterparts, suggesting more frequent discussions could help prevent incidents like Terry's murder.