WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Thursday, July 11th, a GOP-led motion in the House to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in inherent contempt for refusing to turn over President Joe Biden's special counsel interview with Robert Hur was rejected in a 204 to 210 vote with four GOP members voting no.
According to ABC News, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) informed fellow lawmakers of her intention to introduce the resolution and despite attempts made by House Speaker Mike Johnson at trying to get her to delay her vote, she was able to hold it on Thursday, July 11th. The resolution aimed to fine Garland $10,000 per day until he complied with a congressional subpoena.
Rep. Luna originally promised to direct the House sergeant-at-arms to take Garland into custody, but pivoted and delayed her move after discussing the measure with Speaker Johnson. The vote came after two Democratic efforts to table the measure late Wednesday, July 10th, were unsuccessful and after House Republican leaders urged Rep. Luna at a closed-door GOP conference meeting earlier in the week to not bring it up for a vote this week.
Four Republicans voted against holding Garland in contempt. They are: Rep. David Joyce (OH-14); Rep. Michael Turner (OH-10); Rep. Tom McClintock (CA-04); and Rep. John Duarte (CA-13). Rep. Luna commented on this and included more information that news outlets were not aware of, saying, "There were members who said they didn't support the other version. Meaning it would fail ... Either way, I am literally the only person that brainstormed any accountability. If you don't like how the GOP votes as a whole get active, but trashing me without knowing details is exactly what the left does."
On June 12th, House Republicans voted to hold Garland in contempt of Congress over the Biden-Hur audio recordings. At that vote, just Rep. Joyce voted against that contempt effort. A few weeks later, on July 1st, the House Judiciary sued the Department of Justice (DOJ) to obtain the audio.
The DOJ declined to prosecute Garland for contempt of Congress, citing what it called longstanding policy against prosecuting an attorney general. In response, House Speaker Johnson said that the house would "move to enforce the subpoena of Attorney General Garland in federal court."
According to NBC News, the inherent contempt process in the past involved the House sergeant-at-arms taking a person into custody and bringing them to be tried on the House floor, but it has not been used that way in more than a century in the House. Rep. Luna's resolution that was presented only directed Speaker Johnson to impose the daily fine. However, it was unclear how exactly he would enforce that. It did not call for Garland to be taken into custody.
After the failed vote, Rep. Luna wrote on social media that she would bring the resolution to the floor again, saying that her resolution only failed "due to some Republican absences." She wrote on X, "I have refiled the resolution and will be calling it up again in a couple of weeks when Congress is back in session and Members return. Attorney General Merrick Garland will pay and be held accountable for trying to undermine our institutions. No one is above the law."
Joyce, a former prosecutor and who has now voted no twice, noted that the executive privilege call was up to Biden, not Garland and that the DOJ had already turned over transcripts of the Biden interview.
According to ABC News, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) informed fellow lawmakers of her intention to introduce the resolution and despite attempts made by House Speaker Mike Johnson at trying to get her to delay her vote, she was able to hold it on Thursday, July 11th. The resolution aimed to fine Garland $10,000 per day until he complied with a congressional subpoena.
Rep. Luna originally promised to direct the House sergeant-at-arms to take Garland into custody, but pivoted and delayed her move after discussing the measure with Speaker Johnson. The vote came after two Democratic efforts to table the measure late Wednesday, July 10th, were unsuccessful and after House Republican leaders urged Rep. Luna at a closed-door GOP conference meeting earlier in the week to not bring it up for a vote this week.
Four Republicans voted against holding Garland in contempt. They are: Rep. David Joyce (OH-14); Rep. Michael Turner (OH-10); Rep. Tom McClintock (CA-04); and Rep. John Duarte (CA-13). Rep. Luna commented on this and included more information that news outlets were not aware of, saying, "There were members who said they didn't support the other version. Meaning it would fail ... Either way, I am literally the only person that brainstormed any accountability. If you don't like how the GOP votes as a whole get active, but trashing me without knowing details is exactly what the left does."
On June 12th, House Republicans voted to hold Garland in contempt of Congress over the Biden-Hur audio recordings. At that vote, just Rep. Joyce voted against that contempt effort. A few weeks later, on July 1st, the House Judiciary sued the Department of Justice (DOJ) to obtain the audio.
The DOJ declined to prosecute Garland for contempt of Congress, citing what it called longstanding policy against prosecuting an attorney general. In response, House Speaker Johnson said that the house would "move to enforce the subpoena of Attorney General Garland in federal court."
According to NBC News, the inherent contempt process in the past involved the House sergeant-at-arms taking a person into custody and bringing them to be tried on the House floor, but it has not been used that way in more than a century in the House. Rep. Luna's resolution that was presented only directed Speaker Johnson to impose the daily fine. However, it was unclear how exactly he would enforce that. It did not call for Garland to be taken into custody.
After the failed vote, Rep. Luna wrote on social media that she would bring the resolution to the floor again, saying that her resolution only failed "due to some Republican absences." She wrote on X, "I have refiled the resolution and will be calling it up again in a couple of weeks when Congress is back in session and Members return. Attorney General Merrick Garland will pay and be held accountable for trying to undermine our institutions. No one is above the law."
Joyce, a former prosecutor and who has now voted no twice, noted that the executive privilege call was up to Biden, not Garland and that the DOJ had already turned over transcripts of the Biden interview.
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Comments
2024-07-13T07:27-0500 | Comment by: arthur
Well, with any luck, the 4 that voted 'no' can now get voted OUT, not that it would have mattered one way or another, there still would not have been enough votes, which is a shame. This guy Garland needs to go. At least Miss Luna is working for The People, so good for her!
2024-07-13T07:27-0500 | Comment by: arthur
Well, with any luck, the 4 that voted 'no' can now get voted OUT, not that it would have mattered one way or another, there still would not have been enough votes, which is a shame. This guy Garland needs to go. At least Miss Luna is working for The People, so good for her!
2024-07-16T13:42-0500 | Comment by: Rick
The "four" and others like them are the reason I do not call myself a Republican. Garland has been and continues to be the figurehead of everything that is wrong in the justice system yet nobody holds him accountable.
2024-07-16T19:36-0500 | Comment by: Carlton
I changed my party affiliation four years ago when I saw so many backstabbers in the Republican party and needless to say the criminals in the democrat machine . I am now an Independent. TRUMP 2024 . GO MAGA .