Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fl) has pivoted from her initial hardline stance against US Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The House had previously voted 216 to 207 to hold Garland in contempt for failing to hand over the Robert Hur audio tape of his interview with President Joe Biden. The lone Republican siding with Democrats was Rep. David Joyce from Ohio.
After promising to direct the House sergeant-at-arms to take Garland into custody, Luna has now proposed a daily fine of $10,000 until Garland complies with their subpoena.
A source familiar with the situation revealed that she agreed to postpone the move after discussing it with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La). Luna later confirmed on X that she plans to call for the vote next week, Fox News reported.
Rep. Luna wrote:
“The vote for inherent contempt against Attorney General Merrick Garland will be brought to the floor this upcoming session week with full support from Speaker Mike Johnson. This version of inherent contempt will become standard practice for those who seek to undermine Congress as an equal branch of government.
It is with great honor and privilege that my colleagues helped us all accomplish this and restore balance to the branches of government.
Thank you, Speaker Mike Johnson and Representatives Rich McCormick, Mark Alford, Harriet Hageman, Dan Crenshaw, Max Miller, Russel Fry, Derrick Van Orden, Ben Cline, and Tim Burchett.
Garland must answer for his blatant disrespect for Congress and the rule of law. Our Founding Fathers would not have tolerated the behavior exhibited by the attorney general, the Department of Justice, and the president of the United States. This tool was established knowing that one day, Congress might need to check the other branches of government.”
— Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) June 28, 2024
Last Friday, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) held a press conference to address the statement she made last week about holding Merrick Garland accountable after he was found in contempt of Congress. “We will hold Merrick Garland in inherent contempt of Congress. No one is above the law. Tune in!” she wrote on her X account.
During the press conference, she said:
“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.”
The Hill reported that Luna’s new resolution comes as she faces GOP pushback to her proposal to arrest and detain Garland. It is also not entirely clear how the House could force Garland to pay the fines now suggested by Luna.
According to the resolution filed on Friday:
Finding that Merrick Garland, Attorney General of the United States, is in contempt of the House of Representatives for disobeying a certain subpoena.
Whereas, on February 27, 2024, Merrick Garland, Attorney General of the United States, was duly served with a subpoena to produce a narrow and specific set of materials possessed by the Department of Justice and related to Special Counsel Robert K. Hur’s investigation of President Joe Biden’s ‘‘willful’’ mishandling of classified documents to the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives in Washington, DC;
Whereas Attorney General Garland has, in disobedience of such subpoena, failed to produce the set of materials; and;
Whereas the set of materials possessed by the Department of Justice is material and necessary in order that the House of Representatives may properly execute the functions imposed on it and may obtain information necessary as a basis for such legislative and other action as the House of Representatives may deem necessary and proper: Now, therefore be it
Resolved, That—
(1) Merrick Garland, Attorney General of the United States, is found in contempt of the House of Representatives for disobeying the February 27, 2024, subpoena; and
(2) Attorney General Garland shall be fined $10,000 per day until he complies with the subpoena.
