Latest Congressional Votes 7-24-12

Latest Votes from Congress 7-24-12

Holding Eric Holder in Criminal Contempt of Congress. — On June 28, 2012, the House of Representatives passed a criminal contempt citation against Eric Holder by a 255-67 vote.  At issue was the Attorney General’s refusal to produce documents requested by House investigators as part of their investigation into Operation Fast & Furious — where the Department of Justice allowed thousands of guns to be smuggled into Mexico in an effort to create the perceived “need” for additional gun restrictions.  Representatives have caught the Attorney General and other DoJ officials in various lies, while continuing to press Holder for tens of thousands of additional documents.  The Attorney General has continually refused to release these documents, and even asked the President to seal them through “executive privilege.”  A vote in favor of holding the Attorney General in criminal contempt of Congress is rated as a “+”.

Vote:  http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2012/roll441.xml

 

Holding Eric Holder in Civil Contempt of Congress. — By a vote of 258-95, the U.S. House authorized lawmakers on June 28, 2012, to go into court and secure an order that would force the Obama administration to release documents that House investigators have been seeking as part of their investigation into Operation Fast & Furious.  As mentioned in the previous vote — which relates to the criminal contempt citation — Attorney General Eric Holder has made several misstatements to Congress and continued to stonewall their efforts to investigate who authorized Fast & Furious.  One pressing issue that was raised repeatedly during debate over this vote was the desire to know who in the Department of Justice authorized the February 2011 letter which contained several false declarations — as well as, the internal discussions which led to that letter being retracted ten months later.  A vote in favor of moving civil contempt proceedings against the Attorney General is rated as a “+”.

Vote:  http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2012/roll442.xml