(Reuters) – U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was found in contempt of Congress on Thursday as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives sanctioned the nation’s top law enforcement official for withholding some documents related to a failed gun-running probe.
The mostly partisan vote of 255-67 marked the first time a sitting attorney general and presidential Cabinet member was cited for contempt by the full House. No Senate vote is necessary in this House contempt citation.
Many Democrats refused to cast votes, and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi led many of her colleagues in a walkout from the House floor in protest.
Later in the day, the House also was scheduled to vote on a resolution asking U.S. courts to force Holder to turn over documents being sought by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee as part of its long-running investigation of the Fast and Furious. That could lead to a prolonged court fight with an uncertain outcome while a judge weighed the House demand against the Obama administration’s claim of executive privilege to protect the documents.
The unprecedented House rebuke of Holder was overshadowed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s upholding of Democratic President Barack Obama’s controversial healthcare law – a ruling that was reverberating throughout the country.
Nevertheless, the House devoted much of its legislative session on Thursday to a sometimes bitter debate over Holder’s role in “Operation Fast and Furious,” which was aimed at following guns being purchased in Arizona to determine whether they flowed into Mexico for use by drug cartels.
The Justice Department initially denied that a program was being run that allowed some guns to “walk” into Mexico – a contention it later retracted, raising Republican suspicions.
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