House Republicans are launching several efforts to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland accountable as impeachment investigators continue their monthslong fight to obtain an audio recording from special counsel Robert Hur’s interview with President Joe Biden.
Though the House Judiciary Committee plans to discuss holding Garland in contempt of Congress next week, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) announced her own resolution on Wednesday to hold Garland in inherent contempt, which differs from the judiciary proceeding.
“Attorney General Garland’s refusal to turn over the subpoenaed information is not just an insult to the House of Representatives, but a direct threat to our constitutional republic,” Luna said in a statement. “His non-compliance with a lawfully issued subpoena is a serious breach, and the only appropriate response is for Congress to exercise its powers under the Constitution to hold him in contempt.”
The goal of the resolution is to reemphasize Congress’s role in enforcing subpoenas and “serves as a stark reminder to the Department of Justice that it is not above the law.”
The House Judiciary Committee is aiming to hold a meeting and a committee vote on the matter on May 16, the Washington Examiner exclusively reported. Once approved by the committee, it would go to the floor for a full House vote.
The difference between Luna’s resolution and the House Judiciary Committee’s methods is the process in which the contempt resolution is considered.
Luna’s resolution relies on a long-dormant contempt power that allows the House to detain and imprison someone until compliance with the congressional demand. Under the process which hasn’t been used since 1935, the person being held in contempt could be arrested by the sergeant-at-arms and brought to the House floor for trial, and can be imprisoned or detained in the Capitol.
For the committee, if the resolution passes the full House, a criminal referral is made to the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., which then must weigh whether to move forward with prosecution.
It is likely that the committee’s contempt resolution would not result in any criminal proceedings for Garland, who heads the Justice Department. A DOJ spokesman disputed the legitimacy of the committee’s efforts and warned that releasing audio would have a chilling effect on witnesses coming forward to law enforcement.
“We have … repeatedly urged the Committees to avoid unnecessary conflict and to respect the public interest in the Department’s ability to conduct effective investigations by protecting sensitive law enforcement files,” Carlos Uriarte, an assistant attorney general, wrote on April 25.
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A draft resolution of the contempt report obtained by the Washington Examiner shows that House Republicans claim Garland has refused to comply with the subpoenas and has hindered the House GOP’s impeachment inquiry in the process.
In recent years, the Justice Department has pursued and secured convictions of both Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro on contempt charges for ignoring subpoenas issued by the former House Select Committee on Jan. 6.