US Attorney-General found in contempt IN an unprecedented censure vote, the US House of Representatives has found Attorney-General Eric Holder in criminal contempt, paving the way for legal action over the blocking of a probe into a botched gun-running operation. Several furious Democrats stormed out of the chamber at the start of the vote today 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.