(Reuters) – The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives plans to file a civil suit in federal court in the next several weeks over the Obama administration’s refusal to give Congress documents about a failed gun-running probe, House Speaker John Boehner said on Sunday.
The Justice Department said on Friday it would not prosecute Attorney General Eric Holder after he was cited a day earlier by the Republican-led House for contempt of Congress for withholding some documents related to the probe. Holder heads the department.
The fight over the documents revolves around “Operation Fast and Furious,” a federal law enforcement program intended to track weapons sold in Arizona that were suspected of being transported to Mexico for use by violent drug cartels.
The House on Thursday also voted to give itself the authority to go to court to get the documents that Republicans accuse the Justice Department of withholding.
