AG Holder Calls Fast & Furious Investigation an Election Year Gambit
WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives held Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress Thursday for refusing to turn over internal documents discussing the Justice Department’s botched Operation Fast and Furious gun-tracking program.
Republicans said they needed to take the extreme step because Holder is refusing to turn over internal emails discussing the Justice Department’s discussions of the failed gun sting operation. They say they need the documents since Holder first denied any personal knowledge of the operation and then acknowledged he was aware of it. Democrats called the charges an effort to embarrass the Obama administration in an election year, with some accusing the Republicans of racism for challenging the African-American attorney general.
The votes to hold Holder in both civil and criminal contempt made him the first sitting U.S. attorney general ever held in contempt by the House.
The House voted 255 to 67 to hold Holder in criminal contempt. One lawmaker, Rep. Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill., voted “present.”
Following warnings from the politically powerful National Rifle Association that it considered the actions against Holder a loyalty test, 17 Democrats voted with Republicans for contempt. Only two Republicans, Reps. Steven LaTourette of Ohio and Scott Rigell of Virginia, voted no.
The civil contempt count passed 258-95 with five Democrats voting “present.” Twenty-one Democrats voted with Republicans and 85 Democrats didn’t vote.
Holder, who was in Orlando, Fla., addressing the League of United Latin American Citizens convention Thursday, defiantly denounced the votes as “the regrettable culmination of what became a misguided and politically motivated investigation during an election year.”
“As a result of the action taken today by the House, an unnecessary court conflict will ensue,” he said. “It’s clear that they were not interested in bringing an end to this dispute or even obtaining the information they say they wanted.”
White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer called the contempt vote a political sideshow meant to embarrass the president over a sting operation everyone already acknowledges went wrong when agents lost track of guns they were trying to track to arms dealers.
More than half of the House’s 191 Democrats marched out of the chamber before the first vote to protest the proceedings rather than cast ballots. Some accused the Republicans of racism for challenging Holder.
