By Patrick Henningsen | Infowars.com

The House Oversight Committee hearings have put both Eric Holder and the White House on their back heels this morning, further fueling a scandal which has now forced the White House into a rear-guard action.

In a move that is certain to fuel speculation about Barack Obama’s knowledge of the Federal government’s clandestine gun-running operation into the Mexican black market, the President has moved to claim ‘executive privilege’ regarding any documents relating to the notorious “Operation Fast and Furious.”

The case has reached a critical juncture as the House panel has finally moved to hold Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in criminal contempt after he failed to comply with official Congressional requests to hand over thousands of cables and documents relating to the scandal.

According to reports this morning from the Washington Post:

In a letter sent to Obama late Tuesday, Holder urged Obama to exert executive privilege, because sharing internal documents with lawmakers could “have significant, damaging consequences.”

Sharing the documents “would inhibit candor of such Executive Branch deliberations in the future and significantly impair the Executive Branch’s ability to respond independently and effectively to congressional oversight,” Holder wrote to Obama.