After a last-ditch appeal by the White House fell flat Tuesday, House Speaker John Boehner told reporters this morning that he will proceed on a vote Thursday to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for withholding certain documents related to the Fast and Furious gun-walking operation.
"The United States government ran a gunrunning operation that has resulted in hundreds of deaths," Boehner, R-Ohio, said. "Brian Terry's family has a right to know what happened. The American people have a right to know what happened and we're going to proceed."
The contempt resolution passed out of committee strictly down party lines and the debate Thursday promises to be a bitter dispute as well. Propounding the partisanship is the National Rifle Association, which announced last week it "will consider this vote in our future candidate evaluations."
While that warning could persuade some Democrats to vote with the GOP, Boehner said the NRA has "no role" in the contempt vote as far as he's concerned, but rather the unprecedented move "is about getting to the truth."
