Washington - The House of Representatives on Thursday found U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt of Congress, creating a bitter political break between two branches of government and sending the matter to the courts to decide whether the attorney general must release internal records dealing with a federal gun-tracking operation known as Fast and Furious.

The votes approved in the Republican-controlled House covered two contempt of Congress citations - one as a criminal matter referring the issue to the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington for prosecution, the other authorizing the House to hire a special attorney to bring a civil lawsuit.

Both, if successful, would force Holder to turn over 1,500 pages of material dealing with how he and other Justice officials dealt with the scandal over the botched operation after it became public. Republicans suspect a cover-up to hide the Justice Department's involvement. How far they will get remains uncertain, as President Barack Obama has asserted executive privilege in keeping the documents under seal.

Fast and Furious, run by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, began in the fall of 2009 and ended shortly after U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed in December 2010, south of Tucson.

According to evidence collected by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, as well as acknowledgments from Holder and top Justice officials, firearms were allowed to be illegally sold in the Phoenix area with the hope that agents could track them to Mexican drug cartel leaders. Instead, most of the 2,500 weapons were lost. Scores turned up at Mexican crime scenes, and two were recovered near where Terry was killed.

Until the votes were cast Thursday, no sitting Cabinet member had ever been found in contempt by Congress, and the weight of history hung heavily over the chamber as Republicans charged the Obama administration was stonewalling and Democrats dismissed the contempt vote as partisan political theater.

Indeed, at the start of the voting, about 100 Democrats led by Congressional Black Caucus members, as well as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., marched quietly out of the House chamber, in single and double file, expressing solidarity for Holder and Obama.

Holder, standing before a photograph of Obama, defiantly announced that he would not be deterred from his job. He also showed no inclination to provide the documents.

"Today's vote is the regrettable culmination of what became a misguided and politically motivated investigation during an election year," the attorney general said. He added that the debate and votes were "good political theater" but also, "at base, a crass effort and a grave disservice to the American people."

The vote for criminal contempt was 255 to 67. Seventeen Democrats voted for contempt, some after being warned by the National Rifle Association that it was including the vote in a score card it will release before the congressional elections. A total of 108 Democrats did not vote, and one voted "present." Two Republicans voted against it.

The vote for civil contempt was 258 to 95. Twenty-one Democrats crossed over and voted for contempt, five voted "present" and 70 did not vote at all. No Republicans voted against it.

An effort by Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., to delay the vote, hold more committee hearings into Fast and Furious and seek a compromise with Holder was voted down.

The point man for citing Holder with contempt was Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the oversight committee. He has zealously been demanding that Holder honor a committee subpoena for the records, even refusing several entreaties by Justice officials for an informal review of the records.

Issa, standing next to a large photograph of Terry, held up copies of Fast and Furious wiretap applications that he said were read by top Justice officials advising them "that they were letting guns go to Mexico." But, he said, Holder and Justice Department "lied repeatedly" to the committee about their knowledge of Fast and Furious, and that is why they are shielding the documents.

"This was lies and a cover-up," Issa charged. "That's what we are voting on."

House Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, said, "We've been patient, and we've shown more than enough good faith," but he noted that Holder has not cooperated. "No Justice Department is above the law, and no Justice Department is above the Constitution."

Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the oversight panel, who for weeks fought to stop the contempt momentum, on the House floor called Republican leaders "almost giddy" over the vote. But with the Republican majority in the House and the Democratic crossovers, he never had the votes to stop the process.

"Today is a historic day," Cummings said. "Republican leaders are about to plunge into the history books by taking one of the most extreme and partisan actions the House of Representatives has ever seen."

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a key figure working with Cummings, said that, for the Republicans, "the fight is the goal . a political brawl over nothing." He added, "What we do today will cause no damage to the Justice Department. But it will cause great damage to the House."