Holder stalls, Republicans plan to hold contempt vote today

Rep. Darrell Issa and AG Eric Holder meet yesterday afternoon. Holder failed to turn over anymore documents. Instead, he wanted Issa and House Republicans to settle for some lame briefings. That is a no pass. Unless Holder turns over documents this morning, it looks like the contempt vote will go forward. It doesn't appear Holder was seriously trying to resolve the issue. Republicans have claimed they will get as many as 30+ Democrats to vote with them to hold Holder in contempt. This whole charade by Eric Holder is an attempt to provide cover for Democrats to vote against the contempt charge.

Via Politico:

House Republicans are charging head first into their most direct conflict with President Barack Obama’s administration over the extent of executive branch power, as they prepare to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress on Wednesday.

Holder and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) failed to reach an agreement on what documents the administration would fork over to help Republicans investigate the Fast and Furious program, a joint Justice Department-Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives operation that put guns into the hands of Mexican cartels.

The two sides remained at loggerheads Tuesday evening, after a 20-minute huddle in Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s third-floor Capitol suite. Holder later called Issa’s position “political gamesmanship” and not a true attempt to resolve the dispute.

After the session, Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said no deal was in hand and Wednesday’s vote would move forward, barring a last-minute reversal.