Republican lawmakers clashed with Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. Thursday over Justice Department efforts to block voter-ID laws in several Southern states during this election year.

Lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee also grilled Holder over the botched “Fast and Furious” operation, in which federal agents in Arizona allowed suspected arms traffickers to buy more than 2,000 guns in order to track them to a Mexican drug cartel.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., slammed onto the dais court-sealed wiretap applications in the case, which he said he had received from whistleblowers.

He claimed they showed senior Justice Department officials learned about the operation earlier than they had acknowledged.

“Have you and your attorneys produced internally the materials responsive to the subpoenas?” Issa asked.

“We believe that we have responded to the subpoenas,” Holder replied.

“No, Mr. Attorney General, you’re not a good witness!” Issa shouted. “A good witness answers the question asked.”

Two guns from the operation were found at the scene of the fatal shooting of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry on Dec. 14, 2010.

The attorney general, who has appeared before Congress eight times in the past year, pushed back several times. When Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, insisted that an e-mail written by a deputy assistant attorney general referred to the “gun walking” tactics used in Fast and Furious, Holder maintained it did not.

“I have superior knowledge,” Holder shot back.

But much of the hearing focused on state laws that require voters to show a photo ID.

Justice officials blocked such a law in Texas in March, saying the statute disproportionately harms Hispanics.

The action followed a Justice Department effort in late December to block a voter-ID law in South Carolina that officials said adversely affects black voters.

Eight states passed stricter laws on voter identification last year, and critics say the measures could hurt turnout among minority voters. Supporters say the laws are needed to combat voter fraud.

“Wouldn’t I have to show a government-issued photo ID to get in to see you?” Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., asked Holder. “Are you inhibiting ... my constitutional right by requiring me to show a government-issued photo ID?”

Holder said that the laws being challenged by Justice “have an impact on a person’s ability to exercise that most fundamental of constitutional rights, and that is the right to vote.”