US Attorney General Eric Holder talks to reporters after meeting with House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa in the US Capitol

AFP

In an unprecedented censure vote, the US House of Representatives found Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal contempt Thursday, paving the way for legal action over the blocking of a probe into a botched gun-running operation, reports AFP.

Several furious Democrats stormed out of the chamber at the start of the vote to protest what they say is highly political and partisan action by Republicans to discredit Holder and President Barack Obama's administration in an election year.