Attorney General Eric Holder has been held in contempt of Congress for his role into the investigation of the “Fast and Furious” program. The final vote in the contempt hearing was 255-67, with two republicans voting nay and 17 democrats voting in favor of the resolution.
The House Oversight Committee lead by Chairman Darrel Issa (R-CA) has been seeking documents relating to the “Fast and Furious” program in which guns sold in South-Western states were tracked in hopes of tracing them back to druglords across the border of Mexico. Guns in the program were later found to be used in several crimes, including the murder of a Border Patrol Agent.
The Justice Department has released all pertinent documents related to the program, excepts those that cover ongoing investigations. The White House had announced that is was seeking executive privilege in not releasing some of the documents before the House Committee met last week.
Several members of the Congressional Black, Hispanic, Asian Pacific American, Progressive Caucuses and other members, walked off the House floor during the vote today.
Press Secretary Jay Carney said during the daily White House briefing on Wednesday that the investigation was politically motivated and that the White House and Justice Department had tried numerous times to resolve the issue, but that Congress was not interested in a sound resolution.
Attorney General Eric Holder said that “today’s vote is the regrettable culmination of what became a misguided and politically motivated investigation during an election year. By advancing it over a past year and a half, Congressman Issa and others have focused on politics than public safety.”
Attorney General Holder’s contempt of Congress resolution is expected to pass in the House on a largely party-line vote.
