WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Justice Department's inspector general says the U.S. Attorney in Arizona violated department policy by providing Fox News with information apparently aimed at undercutting the credibility of a federal agent who helped reveal the botched arms-trafficking probe called Operation Fast and Furious.

The IG says there was substantial evidence in the 2011 incident that then-U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke's motive for disclosing a memo by federal agent John Dodson was retaliation. In testimony to a House committee just two weeks earlier, Dodson had raised serious concerns about Operation Fast and Furious.