Never in the history of the United States has the Attorney General -- the nation's top official for law enforcement and criminal prosecution -- been cited as a criminal by a house of Congress for refusing to abide by the terms of a subpoena.

Until today.

A bipartisan group of representatives voted to cite Attorney General Eric Holder for contempt of Congress over his refusal to produce documents related to Operation Fast & Furious and the subsequent coverup.

The GOP-led House voted Thursday to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for failing to provide key information pertaining to Operation Fast and Furious, making Holder the first sitting Cabinet member to be held in contempt.

The vote was 255-67 with one lawmaker voting not present. Seventeen Democrats broke ranks to vote in favor of contempt, while two Republicans voted against the measure.

The vote was preceded by a heated floor debate.

“It’s important to remember how we got here,” House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said during a speech ahead of the vote. “The Justice Department has not provided the facts and information we requested. … It’s our constitutional duty to find out.”

The GOP-led House took the step over the alleged failure to provide additional information about the failed gun-running operation known as Fast and Furious which was run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — a division of the Justice Department led by Holder.

For those who are unaware, Operation Fast & Furious has resulted int he death of US Border patrol Agent Brian Terry and at least 300 Mexican citizens. Barack Obama and Eric Holder don;'t want you -- or your elected representatives -- to know any of that, or to find out exactly how an operation run by the Department of Justice could have such results.

Democrats, as is their wont, threw a temper tantrum over their inability to win. The Congressional Black Caucus and the Democrat leadership team led a walkout because it was apparent that they could not stop the measure from passing -- they sided with Obama and Holder, putting the color of their skin ahead of the content of their character and the prerogatives of Congress to oversee the operations of federal departments and agencies.

Oh, and Eric Holder decided to play the race card -- ignoring the dead bodies at his feet and the blood on his hands and instead trying to make this about his efforts to stop Voter ID laws. It was an utterly shameless display by a man who really ought to resign. After all, we can't have a criminal running the Justice Department. Time to cuff him and stuff him and haul him to jail -- which would have happened if Congress had instead invoked its inherent contempt power.

And for anyone who wants to question whether this is a bipartisan vote, please consider that Democrats tried to cast ObamaCare as having bipartisan support with far fewer Republicans voting in favor of that legislation.

Others writing include Sister Toldjah, Gateway Pundit, Legal Insurrection, Hot Air, JoshuaPundit, GayPatriot