Kathy Castor joined Congressional Black Caucus in walking out on Eric Holder contempt vote

Last Thursday the House of Representatives voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress over the Fast and Furious contretemps. The House held Holder in contempt on two separate votes of 255 to 67 on criminal charges, and 258 to 95 on civil charges.

Seventeen Democrats joined House Republicans on the first vote, 21 Democrats on the second.

Several dozen Democratic members led by the Congressional Black Caucus walked out of the House chamber in protest, holding a press conference on the House lawn where they derided the vote as a “ridiculous partisan stunt."

One of those Democrats was Tampa Representative Kathy Castor, who told CL on Friday that "I was frankly offended after doing all the research on what a political sham Darrell Issa and Republicans in the House turned that into."

This article appears in Jun 28 – Jul 4, 2012.