This afternoon the full U.S. House of Representatives voted 255 to 67 to hold U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal contempt of Congress for failure to turn over specific documents. Eric Holder is now the first U.S. attorney general to be held in contempt of Congress in the history of the United States.
17 Democrats joined Republicans in voting for contempt. One member voted present, and 110 members did not vote.
The House votes on two separate items:
The congressman representing the district of the family of murdered border agent Brian Terry, Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), indicated he would vote against contempt.
In remarks prior to the vote, Rep. Issa (R-CA) said to Rep. Dingell: “When you say you represent Brian Terry, you do not.” Issa then read a statement from the Brian Terry family, which said that the only time they had heard from Dingell was one condolence letter.
Many democrats joined the Congressional Black Caucus in walking out of the proceedings during the vote.
UPDATE: Eric Holder issued a statement in reaction to the contempt vote, invoking Brian Terry’s name:
Today’s vote is the regrettable culmination of what became a misguided – and politically motivated – investigation during an election year. By advancing it over the past year and a half, Congressman Issa and others have focused on politics over public safety. Instead of trying to correct the problems that led to a series of flawed law enforcement operations, and instead of helping us find ways to better protect the brave law enforcement officers, like Agent Brian Terry, who keep us safe – they have led us to this unnecessary and unwarranted outcome….
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY
