Earlier today, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) announced that she would hold a press conference to discuss the next steps in holding Attorney General Merrick Garland accountable for defying a congressional subpoena. “We will hold Merrick Garland in inherent contempt of Congress. No one is above the law. Tune in!” she posted on X.
Press conference about to start. We will hold Merrick Garland in inherent contempt of Congress. No one is above the law. Tune in! pic.twitter.com/xZvdIvfXBN
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) June 26, 2024
Later, Rep. Luna made a public appearance to address the potential arrest of crooked U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland if he continues to withhold the recordings of Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur.
Here is the transcript of Rep. Luna’s statement:
We are here today because of the double standard that exists within the justice system. As you know, on February 27, the Oversight Committee, as well as the House Judiciary, had sent a subpoena to Attorney General Garland, of which we received no response, and after referring him for criminal contempt within 48 hours or less, the Department of Justice refused to prosecute. Inherent contempt is clearly within our Article One authority, and Congress does have the power to investigate all legislative powers.
Investigations are part of our legislative process, and people who interfere with these processes should be held accountable. Inherent Contempt was first used in 1795, and this was further upheld in a Supreme Court decision in 1927 and McGrain versus Doherty, which stated that Congress does indeed have this authority. It’s important to note that when an individual is called before courts across the country, they appear. Why should the attorney general, who is supposed to be head of all law enforcement authorities, be any different?
Garland still has time to comply with this request. We are asking that he bring the tapes to the house and let us listen to them, but in the event that he does not, we will press forward with calling the privilege motion on Inherent Contempt to the floor on Friday morning.
It is also important to note that if we as a Congress do not have the ability to enforce our investigative ability that we are essentially going to be ignored and undercut, and essentially handicapped by all other branches, which would make us not a co-equal branch of government.
… I would appreciate that the press report on this accurately, that Congress again, does have the authority to do this, that the attorney general is not above the law, and ultimately, we will be pressing forward with this.
This is something that, again, would enable the Speaker of the House to order the Sergeant of Arms to take into custody the attorney general if he fails to comply with our request.
Watch:
We will NOT stand by while the DOJ and Merrick Garland pretend to be above the law. We will hold them accountable.
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) June 26, 2024
I want to thank my colleagues for joining me today in this resolution. @RepVanOrden @RepMarkAlford @RepBenCline @RepRussellFry @RepMcCormick @RepHageman… pic.twitter.com/fKym2NvqJW
Garland has invoked executive privilege — a defense that was not extended to former Trump White House officials Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro — while his own department issued a memo stating he cannot be prosecuted. Following Garland’s dismissal of congressional contempt proceedings, Luna declared she had no choice but to push for a vote on inherent contempt.
“For Congress to legislate effectively, we must have access to the information that will enable us to make informed decisions,” Luna wrote in a letter to her colleagues on Monday. “When Congress is denied this crucial information, we are left to navigate complex issues in the dark.”
I sent out a Dear Colleague letter to @HouseGOP. I will call up the vote to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in inherent contempt of Congress, and I am encouraging all my colleagues to vote for it. The DOJ is NOT above the law. pic.twitter.com/1Lr32BO6VW
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) June 24, 2024
