Here's the Proof!': Rep. Gowdy Raises Voice, Invokes Stephen Colbert in 6-Minute Diatribe Blasting Holder, Obama

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) blasted U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and his department in an impassioned speech during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee where lawmakers were discussing whether or not to charge the attorney general with contempt.

Gowdy -- who raised his voice several times -- argued the documents that have been made available indicate that senior level officials at the Department of Justice in Washington were aware about Fast and Furious before the death of Border Agent Brian Terry.

"Senior level DOJ officials were briefed, they discussed press conference opportunities, they discussed the unsealing of indictments , they traded emails about the status of the case, they approved wire tap applications and most significantly, Mr. Chairman, they actively discussed the tactic of gun-walking well in advance of special agent brian terry's murder... and here's the proof," Gowdy said.

But he wasn't done, far from it.

He continued, with passion: "So we have a fundamentally flawed federal investigation, we have a dead Border Patrol agent, we have hundreds of dead Mexican citizens, thousands of weapons with America's fingerprints on both sides of the border unaccounted for and a demonstrably false letter being written to a committee of Congress and yet we are being asked for more time."

"It has been over a year Mr. Chairman. If Congress has time to look into Major League Baseball, the BCS and invite Stephen Colbert to come to a committee hearing, surely to goodness we have time to get answers on a fundamentally flawed, lethal investigation like Fast and Furious," Gowdy added.

The Congressman said he has no answers to give his constituents in South Carolina when he is asked for more information on Fast and Furious.

"Not only does Congress have a right to ask these questions, we have a fundamental duty to ask these questions," Gowdy said. "Either we have the right to the documents and we should get all of them or we have no business here."

"And with respect to executive privilege, Mr. Chairman, I am going to resist the temptation to contrast Senator Obama's position on executive privilege with President Obama's position on executive privilege," Gowdy started.

"If (Obama) was not part of the drafting of the February 4 letter, if he did not know about Fast and Furious before Brian Terry was murdered, if he did not approve of the wiretap applications then what in the world is he asserting executive privilege for?" he asked

Before concluding his memorable rant, Gowdy said about the president: "He is either part of it or he's not. If he's part of it, then we've had a series of witnesses that have misled this committee. If he's not part of it, then he's got no business asserting executive privilege."