First appeared on FOX: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., plans to force a vote this week to direct House protocol clerks to arrest Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Luna sent a letter to House Republicans on Monday, arguing that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has undermined Congress by refusing to act on a contempt resolution passed by the Republican majority earlier this month.
“The only way to ensure compliance with a subpoena is to exercise our constitutional contempt powers,” Luna said. “In the coming days, I will be introducing a resolution to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress, and I hope you will vote in favor of it.”
“Our ability to legislate effectively and fulfill our constitutional duties is at stake. We must act now to protect the integrity and independence of the Legislature.”
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Rep. Anna Paulina Luna wants to force a second vote on whether the House should arrest Attorney General Merrick Garland. (Getty Images)
The substantive contempt charge is different from the criminal contempt resolution passed on June 12, which referred Garland to his own office for criminal prosecution. But the substantive contempt charge would mean Garland would be tried in the House and, if convicted, could lead to detention by House marshals.
“This is a broad power that the Court has found necessary for Congress to carry out its legislative functions. Anyone found in substantive contempt may be arraigned by Capitol Police officers in a House chambers, tried in Congress, and then detained in the Capitol or in Washington, DC,” Luna wrote.
“This shows how seriously Congress takes non-compliance and what consequences there can be for those who refuse to cooperate,” he said.
House Republican leaders sought to hold Garland in contempt. Hand over the voice recording Special Counsel Robert Hur met with President Biden despite a congressional subpoena.
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House Republican investigators have issued a subpoena to Attorney General Merrick Garland to turn over audio tapes of meetings between Special Counsel Robert Hur (left) and President Biden (right). (Getty Images)
Republicans seeking the recording argued it would provide important context about Biden’s state of mind, while Democrats dismissed the request as a partisan effort. Politicize Department of Justice.
The Justice Department said it would not prosecute Garland because he was acting based on Biden’s own assertion of executive privilege regarding the interview tapes.
“The Department of Justice and the Attorney General cannot be the final arbiter of whether congressional subpoenas are enforced. If Congress were to allow this, we would be in danger of becoming subservient to the Attorney General and completely stripping away our legislative power,” Luna argued. “How can anyone in the executive branch respond to our requests for information if enforcement of the request depends on the actions of another branch within the same department?”
Congress has not exercised the inherent contempt power since 1934, when Washington lawyer William McCracken was sentenced to 10 days in prison for failing to fully comply with a Senate subpoena. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which upheld Congress’ right to exercise the inherent contempt power in its February 1935 decision, Journey v. McCracken.
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To bring the resolution to a vote, Rep. Luna must deem it “privileged,” meaning House members would have two legislative days to vote on the resolution.
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But it’s not immediately clear whether the effort will be successful: The resolution is unlikely to gain support from Democrats and would need the backing of several Republicans to shelve the bill, killing it before it can be voted on by the full House.
The full House vote to hold Garland in contempt of court was supported by all Republicans except for Ohio Republican Rep. David Joyce, who opposed the motion, citing concerns about politicizing the justice system.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment on Luna’s letter.
