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A key player in Operation Fast and Furious has invoked Fifth Amendment protection in his refusal to testify before Congress about the federal gun-running program that resulted in U.S. weapons being sent to Mexico.

Patrick J. Cunningham, chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona, informed the House Oversight Committee of the decision late Thursday through his attorney, Fox News reported.

Cunningham was ordered Wednesday to appear before Chairman Darrell Issa and the House Oversight Committee to testify about his role in the operation, Fox News reported. The program sent more than 2,000 guns to the Sinaloa Cartel, and guns from Fast and Furious were found at the murder scene of Border Agent Brian Terry.

The letter from Cunningham’s Washington D.C., attorney Tobin Romero, which says Department of Justice witnesses who have supported Attorney General Eric Holder are wrong or lying, stunned congressional staff, Fox News reported.

Cunningham is the second-highest ranking U.S. Attorney in Arizona.

Romero claims Cunningham did nothing wrong and acted in good faith, but the Department of Justice is saying he failed to accurately provide the Oversight Committee with information on the execution of Fast and Furious.

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