Republican-run House, in historic vote, holds attorney general Eric Holder in contempt

WASHINGTON -- The House on Thursday held Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal contempt of Congress for failing to provide documents related to a failed gun-tracking operation. It is the first time a sitting Cabinet member has been held in contempt.

The vote was 255-67, with more than 100 Democrats boycotting. They said the contempt resolution was a political stunt.

A number of Democrats boycotted Thursday's vote.

Republicans accuse Holder, the top U.S. lawyer, of stonewalling the investigation of "Operation Fast and Furious," in which guns purchased in the US were taken to Mexico. Democrats charge the vote was politically motivated ahead of the November election in which their leader President Barack Obama is seeking a second term.

The consequences of Thursday's House vote are not clear. Criminal charges are unlikely because the matter will be referred to a prosecutor under Holder. A separate vote on civil contempt could trigger a potentially lengthy lawsuit.

In past cases, courts have been reluctant to settle disputes between the legislative and executive branches.

African-American lawmakers led the walkout as members filed up the aisle and out of the chamber to protest the action against Holder, who is the nation's first black attorney general. Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi joined the boycott, saying Republicans had gone "over the edge" in their partisanship.

Seventeen Democrats voted with Republicans in favour of the contempt vote, while two Republicans -- joined other Democrats in voting No.

The National Rifle Association, a gun advocacy group, pressed hard for the contempt resolution, leaning on members of both parties who want to stay in the NRA's good graces. Holder said afterward the vote was merely a politically motivated act in an election year

Republicans cited Holder's refusal to hand over -- without any preconditions -- documents that could explain why the Obama administration initially denied that a risky "gun-walking" investigative tactic was used in Operation Fast and Furious, which allowed hundreds of guns to be smuggled to Mexico.

During the debate before the vote, Republicans said they were seeking answers for the family of Brian Terry, a Border Patrol agent killed in December 2010 in a shootout with Mexican bandits. Two guns from Fast and Furious were found at the scene.

Democrats insisted that they, too, wanted the Terry family to have all the facts, but argued that only a more thorough, bipartisan investigation would accomplish that.

The NRA urged House members to vote for contempt, contending the administration wanted to use Operation Fast and Furious to win gun control measures. Democrats who normally support the NRA, but who vote against the contempt citations would lose any 100 per cent ratings from the group.

That could affect whether they get endorsements from the powerful organization, particularly if Republican opponents surface who are strong NRA backers. But a former NRA board member and the longest-serving House member, Rep. John Dingell argued gun control was not at issue. He failed in attempt to head off the contempt votes.

The dispute is both legal and political. Republicans asserted their right to obtain documents needed for an investigation of Operation Fast and Furious -- focusing on 10 months in 2011 after the Obama administration initially denied guns were allowed to "walk" from Arizona to Mexico. By year's end, the administration acknowledged the assertion was wrong.

Obama asserted a broad form of executive privilege, a legal position designed to keep executive branch documents from being disclosed. The assertion ensures that documents will not be turned over any time soon, unless a deal is reached between the administration and congressional Republicans.

For the past year and a half, some Republicans have promoted the idea that Holder and other top-level officials at the Justice Department knew federal agents in Operation Fast and Furious had engaged in gun-walking.

Gun-walking long has been barred by Justice Department policy, but federal agents in Arizona experimented with it in at least two investigations during the George W. Bush administration before Operation Fast and Furious.