Obama will "stand by his man," even though Mexico says 80% of all weapons seized from cartels come from U.S.

Facing increasing controversy over the now exposed Fast and Furious and Wide Receiver arms programs, in which U.S. ATF and DEA agents secretly allowed military grade arms to be sold to Mexican drug cartels, president Barack Obama stepped up to the plate today and said that he stands by his Justice Department head, Attorney General Eric Holder. Obama insisted again that neither he nor Holder knew anything about either program until Fast and Furious came to public light in January 2011. He added that they would never have authorized the sales.

"I have complete confidence in Eric Holder," said the president. "He has been very aggressive in fighting the flow of weapons and cash from the United States to Mexico."

Earlier this week a Republican House member called for a special counsel to investigate whether Holder was telling the truth in his May 3 testimony before a congressional panel. He told legislators that he had only known about Fast and Furious "for several weeks." Written evidence in the hands of a Senate committee investigating the arms deals indicate that Holder was aware of both by October 2010, and maybe as early as July 2010. Indictments are expected out of the cases, and Obama said today that he and Holder remain committed to finding out who was responsible for the programs.

The Mexican government claims that 80% of all weapons seized from the drug cartels ultimately are traced to the U.S.