The government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington today asked the Justice Department and an independent ethics office to examine whether Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) broke any laws or House rules when he disclosed the contents of a sealed wiretap application in the Congressional Record.

Roll Call first reported late last month that Issa, during floor debate on whether to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for his alleged knowledge of a controversial “gun walking” program on the U.S.-Mexico border, entered into the record a letter to Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) that quotes from and describes a wiretap application that has become central in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s probe of the “Fast and Furious” operation.

The two CREW requests, which were lodged in the form of letters to Holder and the Office of Congressional Ethics, suggests that though there is a Constitutional clause that largely protects lawmakers from prosecution for their official actions, there are other applicable laws and House rules that the two bodies could use to target Issa.

“Although the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution may shield Rep. Isssa from prosecution for placing the contents of the sealed wiretap application into the Congressional Record, it would not prevent prosecuting him for discussing the sealed matter with reporters or taking steps to ensure the dissemination of the wiretap application to reporters for publication,” CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan wrote to Holder.

“Even if under the strictures of the Speech or Debate Clause Rep. Issa cannot be prosecuted for disclosing the warrant application, he nevertheless is still subject to House disciplinary procedures,” Sloan wrote to OCE Chief Counsel Omar Ashmawy.