Image credit: U.S. Customs and Border Protection/AP

The family of slain U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, who was killed with guns tied to the Fast and Furious program, issued a statement Wednesday afternoon accusing President Obama of compounding their family tragedy by invoking executive privilege.

President Obama invoked executive privilege to shield the Justice Department from having to release documents sought by House Republican investigating the secret law enforcement program, wherein weapons smugglers were permitted to buy guns so law enforcement could trace them to drug cartels. Law enforcement lost track of hundreds of the guns, which began showing up at crime scenes, most tragically in December 2010, where Terry was killed.

Terry family attorney Pat McGroder on Wednesday released the following statement from Terry's parents Josephine Terry and Kent Terry Sr.: "Attorney General Eric Holder's refusal to fully disclose the documents associated with Operation Fast and Furious and President Obama's assertion of executive privilege serves to compound this tragedy. It denies the Terry family and the American people the truth."

The Terrys said that their son "was killed by members of a Mexican drug cartel armed with weapons from this failed Justice Department gun trafficking investigation. For more than 18 months we have been asking our federal government for justice and accountability. The documents sought by the House Oversight Committee and associated with Operation Fast and Furious should be produced and turned over to the committee. Our son lost his life protecting this nation, and it is very disappointing that we are now faced with an administration that seems more concerned with protecting themselves rather than revealing the truth behind Operation Fast and Furious."

Earlier today, Josephine Terry was on Philadelphia Talk Radio 1210 WPHT .

Asked about the president's assertion, she said, "The only thing I can say is, if he did that they apparently don't want Issa to get the documents to see what's in there."

"My son and I were very, very close," she continued. "And my son was a person that believed in justice and he believed in telling the truth. He was a man of his honor. And if anybody knew him, they knew that. And I know he would be saying 'you know what, I died for my country.' He was a true American and I think he deserves the truth and I think everybody should know the truth. And if this was a bad thing they did with Fast and Furious it should be acknowledged so it never happens to anybody else's son."

-Jake Tapper and Mary Bruce

Get more pure politics at ABC News.com/Politics and a lighter take on the news at OTUSNews.com