WASHINGTON — President Obama on Wednesday invoked executive privilege to withhold from a Congressional oversight committee some documents and communications among his advisers regarding the failed gun enforcement operation known as “Fast and Furious,” in which weapons purchased in the United States were allowed to cross into Mexico.

It was the first time since Mr. Obama took office that he has asserted the privilege, and it sharpened considerably the long-festering dispute between Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and Representative Darrell Issa of California, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The panel had been threatening to find Mr. Holder in contempt for refusing to hand over some documents.
Deputy Attorney General James Cole said in a letter to Mr. Issa that the president was claiming privilege over the documents, although he suggested that there might yet be a way to negotiate the release of some of the contested documents.
“We regret that we have arrived at this point, after the many steps we have taken to address the committee’s concerns and to accommodate the committee’s legitimate oversight interests regarding Operation Fast and Furious,” the letter said. “Although we are deeply disappointed that the committee appears intent on proceeding with a contempt vote, the department remains willing to work with the committee to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution of the outstanding issues.”
Republicans immediately denounced the president’s action.
“Until now, everyone believed that the decisions regarding Fast and Furious were confined to the Department of Justice. The White House decision to invoke executive privilege implies that White House officials were either involved in the Fast and Furious operation or the cover-up that followed," said Michael Steel, the spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio."The administration has always insisted that wasn’t the case. Were they lying, or are they now bending the law to hide the truth?”
The White House said that Mr. Obama had gone longer than any president in the past three decades without asserting such a privilege in a dispute with Congress.
President George W. Bush claimed the privilege six times and President Clinton 14 times, the White House said. In both cases, they acted to withhold the same type of documents that Mr. Obama is refusing to hand over. Presidents have asserted the privilege 24 times since the Reagan presidency, the White House said.
The documents in question involve discussions since February, 2011, long after the gun operation took place. During the operation, illegally purchased firearms were tracked as they were smuggled into Mexico. But law enforcement agencies lost track of some of the hundreds of weapons involved, and two guns linked to the program were found near a shootout in which a Border Patrol agent, Brian Terry, was killed in December 2010.