sorry . . . airplane delays
Embattled Eric Holder no-shows the NAACP as the headlines around him grow
Hours before he was set to speak at a Monday luncheon event for the NAACP national convention, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was forced to cancel his talk due to an airplane delay, according to officials from the civil rights organization.
Press officers for the NAACP, which will release a formal statement later this afternoon, said they hope to reschedule the event for Tuesday, but have yet to confirm with Holder's office.
The attorney general is the first sitting cabinet secretary in U.S. history to face a charge of congressional contempt. The investigation has been blanketed in partisan debate since it began 16 months ago.
Holder already made headlines Monday morning after a poll released by CNN revealed that 53 percent of Americans feel the U.S. House of Representatives was right to hold the attorney general in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over documents related to the ATF's controversial Fast and Furious operation that reportedly landed guns in the hands of Mexican drug cartels.
The attorney general is the first sitting cabinet secretary in U.S. history to face a charge of congressional contempt. The investigation has been blanketed in partisan debate since it began 16 months ago.
In the same CNN poll, 61 percent of those surveyed feel that congressional Republicans are condemning Holder for political gain, as opposed to the 34 percent who think that GOP lawmakers are perusing the Fast and Furious case for genuine ethical concerns.
Presumptive Republican presidential nom Mitt Romney and Vice President Joe Biden remain scheduled to speak at the NAACP convention on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
Click here for more details on the NAACP's 103rd national conference, which continues through Thursday at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.