'Fast and Furious' flap likely to linger

(CNN) -- A botched gun probe that allowed hundreds of weapons to reach Mexico's drug cartels is likely to be a lingering but not fatal controversy for the Obama administration, observers said Wednesday.

Republicans in Congress have been publicly pounding Justice Department officials since June, when whistleblowers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives testified to a House committee about the ill-fated "Operation Fast and Furious." The operation, launched in 2009, was aimed at cutting off the flow of guns to Mexico's drug cartels through straw buyers, but it allowed about 2,000 weapons to reach the hands of the cartels.   More Read