SHOULD THE HOUSE BRING CONTEMPT CHARGES AGAINST A.G. HOLDER?

House oversight committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa and House Speaker John Boehner claim reports they are moving to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress soon — and reports claiming they are working together to do so — are inaccurate.

CBS News and the Los Angeles Times reported Friday morning that Boehner had green-lighted Issa’s plans to hold Holder in contempt of Congress over Operation Fast and Furious. Holder’s Department of Justice has provided only about 7,000 of the more than 70,000 pages of documents Issa has subpoenaed related to Operation Fast and Furious.

Issa and many others on Capitol Hill have threatened for months that they will hold Holder in contempt without actually doing it. This contempt citation — whose existence was confirmed on Fox News Friday afternoon by Issa — is the first official step in moving forward with contempt proceedings.

After the initial reports, a House Republican leadership aide told The Daily Caller that the LA Times and CBS reports were inaccurate. The GOP leadership aide said that “while there are very legitimate arguments to be made in favor of such an action [holding Holder in contempt], no decision has been made to move forward with one by the Speaker or by House Republican leaders.”

Initially, a spokesperson for Issa refused TheDC’s request for comment. But just hours after TheDC published a story detailing the appearance of infighting between Issa and Boehner, a House oversight committee spokesperson backed off and said the LA Times and CBS reports were inaccurate as well.

“The Justice Department has not fully cooperated with the investigation into gunwalking that occurred in Operation Fast and Furious,” the committee spokesperson told TheDC. “The House Oversight Committee continues to make necessary preparations to hold Attorney General Holder in contempt if the Justice Department refuses to change course and stop blocking access to critical documents.”

“While the committee continues to move toward consideration of contempt, it is important to note that the next step in the process of contempt must be made by the Oversight Committee,” the spokesperson added. “Reports, based on anonymous sources, that decisions for consideration of contempt on the House floor have already been made are inaccurate.”