WASHINGTON. -House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced Wednesday that he will proceed to vote on holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for withholding documents in a drug operation called "fast and furious."
The congressional panel made their decision earlier this month right after President Obama invoked his executive privilege over the documents. The house later declared that they were willing to negotiate with Holder if the administration turned over some information regarding the gun trafficking scandal that took place between 2009 and 2011. Holder agreed, however negotiations failed.
Tuesday the White House made a plea not to charge the attorney general in contempt. The effort failed. The House is set to vote on contempt charges Thursday.
"The United States government ran a gunrunning operation that has resulted in hundreds of deaths... The American people have a right to know what happened and we're going to proceed," Boehner said, as reported by ABC News.
In 2009, the Phoenix division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tabaccco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) noticed a large number of legally purchased guns being transported across the border and traced the transfer to a large Mexican drug cartel. The ATF allegedly allowed for 'gun-walking' i.e. permitting the weapons to be transferred in order to locate the cartel in a secret follow and trace method. The inquiry instigated by the House demanded the Justice Department release all information related to the investigation. On refusing to do so, Holder, the attorney general, was held in contempt on party lines.
Holder is the first member of the Obama administration to be held in contempt. The decision came from the House Republican oversight committee. Darrel Issa, the committee's chairman told the New York Times, "Our purpose has never been to hold the attorney general in contempt...Our purpose has always been to get the information the committee needs to complete its work - that it is not only entitled to, but obligated to do."
However, democrats are calling the mover a method of damaging the reputation of the Obama administration. Holder told the New York Times, "the committee's action was political theater" and that, Issa "was trying to "provoke an avoidable conflict between Congress and the executive branch as an election-year tactic."
