The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. June 21, 2012 House Panel Holds Attorney General Holder in Contempt over "Fast and Furious" Probe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A House panel has voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for failing to meet Republican demands in a Congressional probe into the controversial gun-sting operation known as "Fast and Furious." The operation saw U.S. agents encouraging the sale of thousands of guns to middlemen for Mexican drug cartels in an attempt to gain access to senior-level figures within Mexico’s criminal organizations. On Thursday, Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted to reprimand Holder over his failure to hand over documents about the program. The committee's chair, Darrell Issa, said Holder's refusal to cooperate led to the vote. Darrell Issa: "The subpoenas are eight months old. We have not received a credible reason for them not being supplied and in fact no constitutional assertion has occurred. Rather, it is the duty of the executive branch and its agencies to represent itself honestly before Congress and to make available such transparency as is necessary for us to fund and authorize it now and in the future the request of this and future presidents." .