It's no secret U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is not well-liked by many conservatives. But efforts to nullify his effectiveness, or in some cases, remove him from the Justice Department, have culminated today in House Republicans calling for a special counsel to determine whether Holder perjured himself in testimony related to Operation Fast and Furious.

Is Holder guilty of perjury? It's not clear. On May 3, 2011, he said "I'm not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks." But on Monday, CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson uncovered that "at least ten months before that hearing, Holder began receiving frequent memos discussing Fast and Furious." In response, the Justice Department told CBS News that Holder "misunderstood that question from the committee -- he did know about Fast and Furious -- just not the details."

Regardless, a number of conservatives smell blood in the water and are ratcheting up calls for his departure.

He"probably perjured himself," says Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa on Fox News. Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade questions how Holder can "keep his job."

Holder's excuse isn't good enough, writes Katie Pavlich at Townhall. "The response from the Obama Justice Department is typical of the response we’ve been getting since the investigation into Operation Fast and Furious started," she says. "Holder should be dragged before Congress to 'clarify' his remarks and to explain why memos about Fast and Furious dated as far back as July 2010 were addressed directly to him. Afterall, according to Holder's own testimony, he had only been briefed on the program just a "few weeks" prior to testimony in May."

This is like Scooter Libby but worse, writes Thomas Lifson at the American Thinker. "Remember Scooter Libby? He recalled the date of a meeting to the FBI differently than did others, and was convicted of a felony," says Lifson. "Unlike the case of Scooter Libby, over which the Left had fits, 2 federal agents and at least 200 Mexicans have been killed by guns obtained by drug gangs under the Fast and Furious program."

Even if he didn't perjure himself, he should be gone writes Ed Morrissey at Hot Air:

Why is Holder even still part of this administration?  He bungled the project to move terrorist trials to federal court rather than military commissions, having to endure the humiliation of the White House overruling him after bipartisan opposition erupted to trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in Manhattan.  Regardless of whether Holder committed perjury, the death of a Border Patrol agent and the exposure of the administration’s political machinations of F&F have created a huge PR problem for Obama and his administration.  Holder should have gotten the boot months ago, perhaps even longer than that.

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John Hudson