at the same time, you refused requests to hold a public hearing with ken melson, the former head of atf, the agency responsible for conducting these operations. this refusal came after mr. melson told the committee investigators privately that he never informed senior officials at the justice department about gun walking during operation fast and furious because he was unaware himself. last night, you flatly rejected the attorney general's offer. you refused to even commit to working towards a mutually agreeable resolution. instead, you rushed to a prearranged press conference to announce the failure of the meeting. it seems clear that you had no interest in resolving this issue and that the committee planned to go forward with contempt before we walked into the meeting with the attorney general. it pains me to say this but this is what i believe. this is especially disappointing since the department has already turned over more than 1,000 pages of documents that answer your question. you want to know why the department sent a letter to senator grassley initially denying allegations of

at the same time refused requests to hold a public hearing would ken melson, the former head of atf, the agency responsible for conducting these operations. this refusal came after mr. melson told committee investigators privately that he never informed senior officials at the justice department about gun waling because he was unaware himself. last night, you flatly rejected the attorney general's offer. you referred -- you refuse to working toward a mutually agreeable resolution. instead, he rushed to a prearranged press conference to announce the failure of the meeting. it seems clear that you had no interest in resolving this issue and that the committee planned to go forward with contempt before we walked into the meeting with the attorney general. it pains me to say this but this is what i believe. this is especially disappointing since the department has already turned over more than 1000 pages of documents that answer your questions. you want to know why the department sent a letter to senator grassley initially denying allegations of gun walking. the documents show that when

ken melson, the head of the very agency that held the gun walking operations such as fast and furious. it's clear that what began as a legitimate and compelling committee oversight investigation has deteriorad -- mr. cummings: i yield the gentleman 15 seconds. mr. lynch: in closing i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to oppose this contempt resolution and i yield the -- yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. issa: i yield one minute to the gentleman from michigan, mr. walberg. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. walberg: there is no joy in today's action but the fact remains, 18 months after u.s. border patrol agent brian terry was murdered, the justice department has failed to hold anybody accountable for the mistakes of operation fast and furious. as a member of the oversight and government reform committee, i have witnessed firsthand the stone wall big the department of justice and attorney general holder. at every question, the justice department has refused to ackn

at the same time, you refused requests to hold a public hearing with ken melson, the former head of atf, the agency responsible for conducting these operations. this refusal came after mr. melson told the committee investigators privately that he never informed senior officials at the justice department about gun walking during operation fast and tears because he was on aware himself. you flatly rejected his bid -- the attorney general's offer last night to commit to working towards a mutually agreeable resolution. instead, you rush through a pre arranged press conference to announce the failure of the meeting. it seems clear you had no interest in resolving this issue and that the committee planned to go forward with contempt before we walked into the meeting with the attorney general. it pains me to see this but this is what i believe. this is disappointed since the department has already turned over more than 1000 pages of documents that answer your question. he wanted to know why the department sent a letter to senator grassley initially denying allegations of gun walking and the do

the former atf director, ken melson read the affidavits and concluded "fast and furious" was out of control and that indeed his agent are were helping walk guns to mexico. last week holder read the same affidavits and disagreed of the saying they don't precisely describe the tactics of gun walking. today grassley sided with melson. >> we still don't have a decent explanation why it took so long to acknowledge the truth. now i've had a chance to review some of the details of those affidavits. all i can say is that mr. melson was right and the attorney general is wrong. >> reporter: now melson wrote an e-mail describing his misgivings that justice has not released that. grassley asked why. holder claims that number one he is not required to give over documents in ongoing investigation or deliberative documents used to make a decision. jenna over the last 18 months there is not a lot more that we know now than we did then. and when this started, you know, often seemed that the department of justice was only giving enough information according to the investigators required to comply with the ov

remember during this period of time from february to december, ken melson and u.s. attorney dennis burke were both still in the mix. they were still in office. would their e-mails support this contention that the department of justice was entirely ignorant of the tactics of "fast and furious"? and that officials under burke and melson intentionally misled washington? that is basically the allegation. and would these deliberative materials support the ag's contention or would they suggest something was wrong? the irony is, us guys, those under scrutiny that drafted and approved the february 4th letter, had nothing to do with "fast and furious". they may never have even been to arizona. back to you. jenna: william, stand by if you will. this is big story we'll cover throughout the day. back to william in los angeles as we get more on this. gregg: stunning developments today. the for eight long months the attorney general of the united states has refused to fully comply with subpoenas from congress. suddenly at the deadline, invoking through the president executive pri

ken melson, the head of the very agency that held the gun walking operations such as fast and furious. it's clear that what began as a legitimate and compelling committee oversight investigation has deteriorated -- mr. cummings: i yield the gentleman 15 seconds. mr. lynch: in closing i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to oppose this contempt resolution and i yield the -- yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. issa: i yield one minute to the gentleman from michigan, mr. walberg. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. walberg: there is no joy in today's action but the fact remains, 18 months after u.s. border patrol agent brian terry was murdered, the justice department has failed to hold anybody accountable for the mistakes of operation fast and furious. as a member of the oversight and government reform committee, i have witnessed firsthand the stone wall big the department of their false d that they had ever let guns walk to mexico. to some on the other side of the aisle

ken melson, the head of the very agency that held the gun walking operations such as fast and furious. it's clear that what began as a legitimate and compelling committee oversight investigation has deteriorated -- mr. cummings: i yield the gentleman 15 seconds. mr. lynch: in closing i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to oppose this contempt resolution and i yield the -- yield back the balance of my time. the spear pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. issa: i yielone minute the gentleman from michigan, mr. walberg. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. walberg: there is no joy in today's action but the fact remains, 18 months after u.s. border patrol agent brian terry was murdered, e justice department has failed to hold anybody accountable for the mistakes of operation fast and furious. as a member of the ovsight and government reform committee, i have witnessed firsthand the stone wall big the department of justice and attorney general holder. at every question, the justice department has refused to acknowledge w