Michael Eric Dyson responds to critics on Twitter, who spoke out after Dyson and panelist Karen Finney discussed criticism of President Barack Obama.

The Department of Justice is telling Congress that it won't prosecute Attorney General Eric Holder for contempt of Congress over his decision to withhold information about the "Fast and Furious" gun-tracking operation.  

In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, the department says that it will not bring the congressional contempt citation against Holder to a federal grand jury and that it will take no other action to prosecute the attorney general.   

Deputy Attorney General James Cole says the decision is in line with long-standing Justice Department practice across administrations of both political parties.

Yesterday, the full House approved a precedent-setting resolution to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal contempt of Congress.  It was the first time a sitting Cabinet member has been held in contempt.

The final vote was 255-67, with only two Republicans voting "no." 108 Democrats abstained from voting on what they have long argued is a politically motivated stunt.  Many walked out of the Capitol in protest.  

Republican lawmakers can still take Holder to court to enforce their demand for documents.

"Congress will probably file a lawsuit, in part hoping to find some judicial support but more because it's just another way to publicize the president's refusal to comply with their demands for documents," Todd Peterson, a law professor at George Washington University, told Reuters.

Republicans could also move to appoint a special prosecutor or even move to impeach.

The last time a Cabinet member was impeached was Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876 under President Ulysses S. Grant.  Belknap was acquitted by the Senate, and even then, it was after he had resigned.

BREAKING: The House has approved a precedent-setting resolution to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal contempt of Congress.  It was the first time a sitting Cabinet member has been held in contempt.   

"Today's vote is the regrettable culmination of what became a misguided - and politically motivated - investigation during an election year," Holder said.  "By advancing it over the past year and a half, Congressman Issa and others have focused on politics over public safety." 

Republicans pushed through the resolution because Holder did not turn over documents related to a botched gun-tracking operation known as Fast and Furious. 

The final vote was 255-67, with only two Republicans voting "no." 108 Democrats abstained from voting on what they have long argued is a politically motivated stunt.  Many walked out of the Capitol in protest.

In a press conference with the abstaining legislators, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who will be our EXCLUSIVE guest tonight at 8pET, characterized the vote as an "abuse of power."   

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee wants Justice Department records from a 10-month period after February 2011. That month, the department initially denied guns were allowed to be purchased in Arizona and be taken to Mexico. In early December that year, the department acknowledged the assertion was wrong. 

Full coverage tonight on The Ed Show at 8pET on MSNBC!

The House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee today voted 23-17, strictly along party lines, to send a resolution to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress over the Operation Fast and Furious gun-running controversy in Mexico.

It now moves to a full House vote, to be held at a to-be-determined date, likely next week.  A full House vote is required to actually hold Holder in contempt of Congress, which is likely given Republican control of the House.

The vote followed a decision by Obama earlier in the day to invoke the rarely-used power of executive privilege to protect the confidentiality of the documents.

Comments rapidly grew more heated throughout the day, culminating in the vote. 

But Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings said the committee's GOP chairman "had no interest" in resolving the issue and was trying to pick a fight.

Ed will explore Committee Chair Darrell Issa's unprecedented political hit job tonight at 8pET on The Ed Show on MSNBC with Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Jonathan Alter, Bloomberg News!