Washington ( CNN ) -- The partisan impasse over potential contempt proceedings against Attorney General Eric Holder continues following a lengthy letter from the deputy attorney general , and a blunt response from the House Oversight Committee chairman . The latest volley started with a 13-page letter from Holder 's deputy , James Cole , to committee Chairman Darrell Issa , R-California , arguing against contempt . `` A contempt proceeding would be unwarranted given the information the Justice Department has disclosed to the Committee to date , '' Cole wrote . He also called such an action `` unprecedented '' given the law enforcement issues , and `` ill-advised '' given the damage it would cause to relations between the executive and legislative branches of the government . In the letter , Cole repeated Holder 's previous admissions that `` Operation Fast and Furious '' was fundamentally flawed as a solution to gun trafficking at the Mexican border . After months of congressional investigations , the Justice Department had acknowledged that its agency , the Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives , made a serious tactical error in allowing guns to be purchased by straw buyers and then smuggled across the border to drug cartels . What was supposed to be a sting operation turned into a nightmare when about 1,000 firearms went missing during the operation and ended up in the hands of drug lords . The fiasco reached crisis proportions when a U.S. Border Patrol agent was slain in Arizona near the border in December 2010 , and two of the missing weapons were discovered at the scene of the killing . Republicans in Congress have been demanding answers . Issa wants any document that could shed light on the operation . Cole says DOJ has sent tens of thousands of pages of documents , answered all the questions at hearing , and given the committee most of what it wants . But Issa says that 's not enough . `` While the Committee has subpoenaed documents that address what senior officials were told about controversial gunwalking tactics during Operation Fast and Furious , the Justice Department pointedly refuses to provide them or to deny senior officials were given information in the course of the Operation indicating the existence of reckless tactics , '' a spokesman for Issa said Wedneday . Republican House members are expected to reach a decision on voting a contempt citation by the end of May , GOP officials say .
The House members are expected to decide on a contempt resolution this month . At issue are documents from the ill - fated ` ` Operation Fast and Furious '' The operation focused on gun smuggling along the Canada - U.S. border . About a dozen people went missing during the operation .