House panel votes to hold Holder in contempt

In the latest round in an escalating fight between House Republicans and the Obama administration, Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt on Wednesday by the House Oversight and Government Committee for failing to deliver documents relating to the botched Fast and Furious operation aimed at Mexican drug and gun cartels.

For weeks, the committee, led by Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has been fighting for more documents about the case, which led to the death of a federal agent. The contempt citation is not operative until it's passed by the full House. Were the House to pass the citation, it would go to a U.S. Attorney.

On Wednesday morning, the White House to invoked executive privilege, but the legal move is not enough to stymie the House GOP efforts. A Tuesday meeting between Holder and Issa failed to stop the movement towards a citation.