BREAKING: The House has approved a precedent-setting resolution to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal contempt of Congress. It was the first time a sitting Cabinet member has been held in contempt.
“Today’s vote is the regrettable culmination of what became a misguided – and politically motivated – investigation during an election year,” Holder said. “By advancing it over the past year and a half, Congressman Issa and others have focused on politics over public safety.”
Republicans pushed through the resolution because Holder did not turn over documents related to a botched gun-tracking operation known as Fast and Furious.
The final vote was 255-67, with only two Republicans voting “no.” 108 Democrats abstained from voting on what they have long argued is a politically motivated stunt. Many walked out of the Capitol in protest.
In a press conference with the abstaining legislators, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who will be our EXCLUSIVE guest tonight at 8pET, characterized the vote as an “abuse of power.” The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee wants Justice Department records from a 10-month period after February 2011. That month, the department initially denied guns were allowed to be purchased in Arizona and be taken to Mexico. In early December that year, the department acknowledged the assertion was wrong. Full coverage tonight on The Ed Show at 8pET on msnbc!
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