Republicans are using the "Fast and Furious" investigation to undermine Justice Department efforts against voter suppression, several Democrats said Thursday as the House of Representatives voted to hold U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.

"I think it's an effort to undercut our fight against voter suppression," Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) told The Huffington Post. "Eric Holder has been the point man on this."

Last week, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) caused an uproar by suggesting that the Republican effort against Holder was really about his department's efforts to prevent low-income and minority voter disenfranchisement.

"These very same people who are holding him in contempt are part of a nationwide scheme to suppress the vote," Pelosi said.

While calling for Holder's resignation earlier this month, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) specifically cited the DOJ's efforts to protect voting rights. "Your department blocks states from implementing attempts to combat voter fraud," Cornyn charged.

Over the last few months, the DOJ has investigated allegations that state governments are using voter identification laws and other means to disenfranchise minority voters, including a controversial effort to purge voter rolls in Florida, where memories of President George W. Bush's contested victory in 2000 are still fresh.

"Eric Holder has responsibility for investigating these voter suppression efforts, and he has been paying some attention to Florida," Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said. "Not only the right-wing element of the Republican party but the gun lobby jumped in and created a whole new story about [Fast and Furious] having been concocted in order to take away their guns."

"Whatever the motivation, there has certainly been great anger and vitriol directed at the attorney general for that action," House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said regarding the Republican investigation of Holder.

In addition to accusing them of obstructing DOJ efforts to protect voting rights, several Democrats suggested that Republican vitriol was fueled, consciously or unconsciously, by Holder's race.

"There's no question," Rep. Frank said. "It's not an accident he's the only guy they go after. Some of it is conscious, some it may not be fully articulated, but yeah, I think the fact that Eric is the leading black official outside the president makes him kind of a surrogate for the president."

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who agreed with Pelosi's statement, said he was wary of also accusing Holder's opponents of racism.

"I'm a black man, born and raised and lived my whole life that way. I certainly wouldn't rule that out, given my personal experience and everything I know about history," Ellison said. "There's been Van Jones, Shirley Sherrod, and there's others. But then again, they didn't give Clinton the love treatment now either, did they?"

While giving Republicans the benefit of the doubt, Ellison did express concern that "there is a certain level of disrespect you see when the target is a person of color, which I think is probably informed racially."

"But you know, making an accusation of racism is very serious business. And when I say it, I mean it. So if I don't know it, and I only suspect it, I'm a little bit reluctant to make the accusation," Ellison added.

All of the House Democrats interviewed had concerns about how the investigation of Operation Fast and Furious has been conducted and suspicions over why Republican lawmakers have so aggressively targeted Holder.

Even though the Fast and Furious operation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Waters said that "the head of the ATF was not even called" by the GOP-run House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which has spearheaded the investigation. "You know that this does not smell right," she said.

Requests for comment sent to the office of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who chairs the committee, were not immediately returned.

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  • From left, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Md., Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., Rep, Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., right, and many House Democrats walk out of the Capitol during the vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt, Thursday, June 28, 2012, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

  • House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., left, and the committee's ranking Democrat Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., go to the House Rules Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 27, 2012, to argue procedures as the House of Representatives prepares to vote on whether Attorney General Eric Holder is in contempt of Congress because he has refused to give the Oversight Committee all the documents it wants related to Operation Fast and Furious, the flawed gun-smuggling probe involving Mexican drug cartels. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

  • Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., left, stretches out her hand to get the attention of Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, as the panel considers a vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 20, 2012. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the ranking member, sits between them. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

  • WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 20: House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) (C) talks with raking member U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) (L) during a mark up hearing on Capitol Hill June 20, 2012 in Washington, DC. Issa and the committee Republicans called the hearing to vote on holding U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for refusing to hand over documents the GOP says are key to their investigation into the failed Fast and Furious operation. Before the start of the hearing, the White House asserted the documents are protected by executive privilidge. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

  • Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., center, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, confers with an aide as the panel considers a vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 20, 2012. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the ranking member, second from left, speaks with Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who authored an amendment in support of Holder. In a showdown with President Barack Obama's administration, House Republicans had pressed for more Justice Department documents on the flawed gun-smuggling probe known as Operation Fast and Furious that resulted in hundreds of guns illicitly purchased in Arizona gun shops winding up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

  • Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, center, debates Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., as the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee considers a vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 20, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

  • The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, led by Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., right, considers whether to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 20, 2012. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the ranking member, speaks at left. In a showdown with President Barack Obama's administration, House Republicans are pressing for more Justice Department documents on the flawed gun-smuggling probe known as Operation Fast and Furious that resulted in hundreds of guns illicitly purchased in Arizona gun shops winding up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

  • WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 20: House Oversight and Government Reform raking member U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) (R) hears from U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) during a mark up hearing with June 20, 2012 in Washington, DC. Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) and the committee Republicans called the hearing to vote on holding U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for refusing to hand over documents the GOP says are key to their investigation into the failed Fast and Furious operation. Before the start of the hearing, the White House asserted the documents are protected by executive privilidge. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

  • Attorney General Eric holder speaks to reporters following his meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 19, 2012. Holder wants a House panel to drop plans to try to hold him in contempt of Congress, and the panel's chairman wants more Justice Department documents regarding Operation Fast and Furious, a flawed gun-smuggling probe in Arizona. Holder and Rep. Issa met in an effort to resolve their dispute over the investigation of Fast and Furious by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that Issa chairs.(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

  • Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., speaks to reporters following his meeting with Attorney General Eric Holder on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 19, 2012. Holder wants a House panel to drop plans to try to hold him in contempt of Congress, and the panel's chairman wants more Justice Department documents regarding Operation Fast and Furious, a flawed gun-smuggling probe in Arizona. Holder and Issa met in an effort to resolve their dispute over the investigation of Fast and Furious by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that Issa chairs. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

  • Attorney General Eric Holder speaks to reporters following his meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 19, 2012. Holder wants a House panel to drop plans to try to hold him in contempt of Congress, and the panel's chairman wants more Justice Department documents regarding Operation Fast and Furious, a flawed gun-smuggling probe in Arizona. Holder and Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, met in an effort to resolve their dispute over the investigation of Fast and Furious by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that Issa chairs. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

  • Attorney General Eric Holder walks through Statuary Hall to speak to reporters following his meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

  • FILE -In this Dec. 8, 2011 file photo, House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., left, shakes hands with Attorney General Eric Holder on Capitol Hill in Washington. Holder is proposing to meet with Issa by Monday to settle a dispute over Justice Department documents the congressman is demanding on a flawed gun-smuggling probe. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

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