>> the filter inside. news we are following this hour. a house committee is due to vote moments from now on whether to hold attorney general eric holder in contempt of congress for refusing to turn over documents from the fast and furious program as you see there. the committee in recess but they should be returning very soon. joining me now, syndicated columnist, nia henderson political reporter with "the washington post " and chris kofinis, democratic strategist. i want to play a moment from chris matthews ' show yesterday where he asked his panel last night about the issue of race involved in what's playing out in this house committee . a portion of what he said.
>> it smells like i.c.e. has one goal, get eric holder up under the lights, go through his pockets. it looks like stop and frisk, the mere act of which shows who is the boss and who says you're clean. well, that's what this subcommittee of i.c.e. is up to trying to make noise so people will think they're doing something up there on capital little, which everyone knows they're not.
>> earl, to mention stop and frisk as we know it's being challenged. many people taking issue that minorities being targeted, blacks and latinos when they are, quote unquote , suspicious and in many cases as chris pointed out, go through your pockets. is that how it you see what's happening today with this committee, or is there a legitimate investigation here? you have a family who's lost a loved one and want to know what happened here.
>> well, i think that's a lynchpin and the starting point. certainly, there are issues solving " fast and furious " and what the justice department did or didn't do. involving " fast and furious "en at guns and the sales and the drugs and, of course, the tragic killing of the border patrol agent. however, having said that, the committee's right, they have a right to investigation, there's no question about that, but i think where the line is being drawn is, is this a partisan attack by a republican-controlled house oversight committee and a republican-controlled congress on eric holder , attorney general eric holder ? what tends to happen is justice departments and their attorneys general tend to come under fire. we certainly remember janet reno with clinton, alberto gonzales within bush, and now eric holder . this seen partly as a surrogate for the president. they're a soft target, easy pickings. let's go after him or her and the other thing that there are so many legal issues involved it almost makes them the whipping boy or girl for going after in a politically partisan way the president. i think that's what we're looking at here.
>> nia, you heard earl outline the other attorneys general who certainly have been for lack of a better description in the middle of these partisan battles. but as carolyn maloney pointed out, not even newt gingrich brought this to the house floor in regards to janet reno but we cannot negate the fact that so many people discussing this wonder how much of this is a dynamic of concern when you look at race.
>> that's true. you've heard that are from folks on the left who have pointed out the fact that some of the language and some of the treatment of eric holder might have to do with race. but i think overwhelming thrill this is just how partisan politics are played. eric holder in some ways has embodied the progressive movement . he's been the daring of the progressive side of things since taking office. in that way, he has certainly become a lightning rod for the right. but sure, i think people do have concerns about this and what happens going forward. and does this poison the atmosphere further in washington , d.c.? you also, i think, have some concerns on the right about this. this idea of shouldn't this be a congress that is talking about jobs, john boehner had that bumper sticker slogan "where are the jobs." even on the right, there is some concern that they are distracting from that message that in some ways is a powerful one.
>> chris , let me bring you in. to the point made by malika as well as earl here. you cannot deny someone's feelings. you see this image of an african- american attorney general. you have members of congress saying you should resign right now. carolyn maloney stated the chairman issa called eric holder a liar. these things happen here. so is it beyond the pale of reason or reasonable thinking here to factor in race or is it truly just about what we're seeing partisan politics on every level that will weep witness within washington ?
>> well, i think listen, the imagery i think feeds into the talk and the debate about race. but i think when you kind of really kind of narrow down and look at this, this is just brutal washington politics. it's happened before . it's going to happen again. i think it's unfortunate. i do not understand this from a political perspective what the republicans are thinking. you're going to suck up about a week of news and talk about something that no one can figure out exactly what it actually is, instead of talking about the economy or issues i imagine they want to talk about, you're going to be completely distracted into something that is political and ugly and just not i think where people want to be focused on.
>> absolutely. again i can't bring up enough, you have a family who has lost a loved one. they want details on what happened with this fast and furious program. i think any human being would want to know how their loved one lost their life especially when there's been admission from the department of justice that this was a problematic program and flawed. with that said, let me transition to mitt romney , chris . you've worked on political campaigns . you know the game here. now you've got governor romney coming out trying to shoot down reports that he is not seriously considering marco rubio a tea party favorite, let me play the latest comments from the governor romney .
>> there are only two people in this country who know who are being vetted and who are not. and that's beth myers and myself. and i know beth well. she doesn't talk to anybody. the story was entirely false. marco rubio is being thoroughly vetted as part of our process.
>> so chris as i mentioned, you've worked on campaigns and know, would only truly people know that this rubio not being vetted come out of thin air?
>> that's 100% impossible. it is literally impossible because to vet a candidate requires a number of individuals who are going to go through not only what's public but what's not public. i mean, you're talking about a staff of individuals, and it just really is strange to me. it kind of speaks to dysfunction in the romney campaign that they will seemingly and top advisers don't know who is being veried and who is not. it clearly seems to me what happened here is they got embarrassed, in particular i think the rubio campaign was upset about how this leaked out unnecessarily and governor romney had to come out and squelch it will.
>> let me play what will governor rubio said today on fox. nia, i'll get your thoughts on the other side.
>> that's part of the process . it comes with the territory and that's fine. i will tell you two things. number one, i don't discuss the process. that governor romney is undergoing and than romney conducted. he deserves the space to conduct that in the most professional way possible.
>> nia, a lot of articles today saying in fact, romney 's campaign under pressure from the more conservative portions of the party as chris pointed out, kind of upset how this all played out regarding a guy they really like, which is rubio. they will see maybe he has a future later but perhaps not this time around.
>> that's right. they very much want him at least on the short list, at least in the sort of mentioninging about who cog assume this number two slot on the ticket. and remember, this was a discussion that game out as mitt romney has been facing questions. there was 80s conference call today, all the questions from reporters about his immigration stance. a lot of top party leaders not just conservatives who think the latino vote is key in this campaign really want marco rubio in the mix at least for appearance's sake. that's why you saw mitt romney clean up on aisle of 6 over this story yesterday.
>> all right. thank you both. greatly appreciate you jumping from the breaking news obviously to the other big topic in politics. thank you all three of you i should say. thank you.