Garland “believes he is above the law and can tell elected members of Congress what to do. My message to Garland is straightforward: release the tapes to Congress and let us listen to them,” says Rep. Anna Paulina Luna.
GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.) said last week that she will introduce an inherent contempt vote to the House floor after the DOJ declined to prosecute Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Inherent contempt proceedings compel the House or Senate’s Sergeant-At-Arms, or deputy, to take a person into custody for proceedings to be held in Congress.
The House voted to hold Garland in contempt earlier this month for defying a subpoena ordering him to turn over audio recordings of Joe Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur.
But the DOJ declined move forward with prosecuting Garland, claiming his refusal to turn over the audio “did not constitute a crime.”
Now Garland has been calling “moderate” Republican lawmakers urging them to vote against inherent contempt, according to Fox News’ Senior Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram.
“Fox is told that Garland has reached out to moderate Republicans, pushing them to reject inherent contempt,” Pergram wrote Friday on X.
2) The last time Congress used its inherent contempt powers, it held a Commerce Department official who refused to cooperate at the Willard Hotel in Washington for ten days in 1934.
Fox is told that Democrats would likely move to table or kill the resolution to hold Garland in…
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 21, 2024
“Fox is told that Democrats would likely move to table or kill the resolution to hold Garland in ‘inherent contempt.’ Thus, the vote is one step removed from an actual up/down vote on inherent contempt. If the House moves to the table, the issue is dead. However, if the House rejects tabling the measure, it proceeds to hold a vote on actual inherent contempt.”
Luna released a scathing statement in response to the development, claiming Garland’s effort to coerce Republicans to reject the inherent contempt vote meets “the very definition of corruption.”
“Attorney General Garland is now calling moderate Republicans, pushing them to vote against my inherent contempt resolution. This is the very definition of corruption. He believes he is above the law and can tell elected members of Congress what to do. My message to Garland is straightforward: release the tapes to Congress and let us listen to them,” Luna said in a statement Saturday.
BREAKING: Rep. Luna Condemns Garland for Acts of Corruption
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna (FL-13) released the following statement after reports that Attorney General Merrick Garland is calling members of Congress and asking them to vote against her inherent contempt… pic.twitter.com/heKwJbbjBm
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) June 22, 2024
“Why is Merrick Garland fighting so hard to keep these tapes hidden?” she continued. “What is on those tapes that is making him act in a criminal manner to protect Joe Biden? Any other American would be in jail for what he is doing. This blatant abuse of power must be stopped. The American people deserve integrity in our institutions, not political corruption.”
Luna will introduce the inherent contempt vote to the House floor next week.
Democrats think they can get away with not following the rules and not being held accountable. Our country desperately needs to restore accountability within our government, now more than ever. The vote to hold Garland in inherent contempt will come to the floor next week.
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) June 20, 2024