What Is Fast And Furious

President Barack Obama assserted executive privilege over documents related to the Operation Fast and Furious, setting off a Washington firestorm over his administration's botched gun-running operation.

The move comes on the same day that House Oversight Chair Darrell Issa has scheduled a contempt vote against Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder over his refusal to turn over documents related to the Operation Fast and Furious, in which U.S. agents allowed guns to "walk" across the border into Mexico.

Although most people are just tuning in to the Fast and Furious fracas, the controversy has actually been quietly brewing in Congress for more than a year. But Obama's use of executive privilege — the first such action of his presidency — has upped the political profile of the gun-running scandal, which has become a touchstone election year issue for conservatives.

Here's a breakdown of what went down with Operation Fast and why the scandal is exploding today:

What Was Operation Fast and Furious?

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