Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida said Sunday she wants the House to use the filibuster clause, which hasn’t been used in more than a century, to enforce a contempt resolution against Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Luna told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that he introduced a resolution several months ago to essentially hold Congress in contempt, a power given to Congress that “has not been exercised since the early 1900s.”
“I was preparing and preparing for this because I expected the Department of Justice would not do its job,” she said. Highlighted by Mediaite.
Luna said he has proposed the idea to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana).
He said the provision would allow Congress to “become the disciplinary body and actually hold Mr. Garland accountable by using the Capitol Police to effectively capture him,” adding that Congress would “drag Mr. Garland to the House floor.”
Luna argued that the provision allows Congress to act as a “check and balance on the Department of Justice.”
According to the House of RepresentativesThe Capitol Police Chief is an elected official who serves as the chief law and protocol enforcement officer responsible for maintaining order in the Capitol.
Last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) determined that Garland did not commit a crime when he failed to comply with requests from House Republicans who had issued a subpoena for audio of conversations between President Biden and special counsel Robert Hur.
The Justice Department said Biden’s assertion of executive privilege on the tapes would protect Garland from prosecution.
Johnson said Friday that the House would take the contempt case to court after the Justice Department declined to prosecute. He argued that the Justice Department’s decision to not prosecute Garland, despite prosecuting Republicans like Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, was “unfortunate but expected.”
Navarro and Bannon were charged with contempt of Congress for failing to comply with related subpoenas on January 6. Navarro has been incarcerated since March, and Bannon is due to be sentenced to federal prison within the next few weeks.
The Justice Department noted that it has not indicted other Republicans who have been charged with contempt, including Bill Barr and Mark Meadows.
