Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is planning to use a congressional maneuver first used in the 18th century to force a vote on the detainment of Attorney General Merrick Garland over his refusal to release special counsel Robert Hur's audiotapes to Congress.
In a "dear colleague" letter sent Monday, Luna said she intends to invoke an inherent contempt resolution "in the next few days" after the Justice Department announced it would not prosecute its leader after the House's contempt of Congress vote.
Luna called the DOJ's decision a "blatant disregard for Congress as an institution."
So she plans to reach for a resolution first used in 1795 "that has a rich tradition in the American and British systems," she wrote.
"Under inherent contempt, the individual is brought before the bar of the House by the Sergeant at Arms, tried by the body, and can then be detained either in the Capitol or in D.C.," Luna wrote. "This process demonstrates the seriousness with which Congress views non-compliance and the potential consequences for those who refuse to cooperate."
Luna introduced her inherent contempt resolution in early May over Garland's refusal to answer the House's subpoena for Hur's tapes of his interview with President Joe Biden during the classified docs investigation. House Republicans want the tapes for more context into Biden' answers, to hear what Hur heard, but Garland dismissed their subpoena as political.
"We can proceed with criminal, civil, or inherent contempt," Luna wrote Monday. "However, both criminal and civil contempt rely on the other branches for enforcement, a situation that would have been unimaginable to our founding fathers."
So she took to the House rules, which read:
"Under the inherent contempt power of the House, the recalcitrant witness may be arrested and brought to trial before the bar of the House, with the offender facing possible incarceration."
However, inherent contempt hasn't been used since 1935, according to the Washington Examiner.
The Congressional Research Service released a 48-page report on inherent contempt in 2019 as a tool to enforce executive branch compliance.
"Either the House or Senate could consider acting on internal rules of procedure to revive the long-dormant inherent contempt power as a way to enforce subpoenas issued to executive branch officials. Yet, because of the institutional prerogatives that are often implicated in inter-branch oversight disputes, some of these proposals may raise constitutional concerns," read the preface to the report.
Luna is undeterred.
"The only option to ensure compliance with our subpoena is to use our constitutional authority of inherent contempt. In the next few days, I will call up my resolution holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in inherent contempt of Congress, and I look forward to each of you voting in favor of it," she wrote.
"The urgency of this situation cannot be overstated. 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 legislative branch," her letter concluded.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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