Nice try, Eric.

(Politico) — Attorney General Eric Holder is denying charges that he misled Congress about his knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious, and he’s denouncing lawmakers for “political posturing” in their strident criticism of the ill-fated gunrunning probe.

Republican leaders in Congress have questioned Holder’s candor when he told a House hearing in May that he had “probably” first heard of the controversial investigation a few weeks earlier. However, documents the Justice Department provided to congressional investigators in recent days show that at least five memos sent to Holder beginning in July 2010 discussed the operation.

Holder also lashed out at some of the more extreme charges being leveled by Republican lawmakers, such as a statement this week by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) that federal officials who approved the “gun-walking” technique should be charged as accessories to murder.

“Such irresponsible and inflammatory rhetoric must be repudiated in the strongest possible terms,” Holder wrote. “Those who serves in the ranks of law enforcement are our nation’s heroes and deserve our nation’s thanks, not the disrespect that is being heaped on them by those who seek political advantage.”

Holder asked the chairs and ranking members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the House Judiciary Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee to “denounce” Gosar’s statements.