House GOP Now Has Enough Votes to Hold AG Garland in Contempt

(BrightPress.org) – Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) announced on July 1st that the Republican party has the adequate number of votes to charge Attorney General Merrick Garland with inherent contempt of Congress. It’s to address Garland’s refusal to turn over audio of President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur regarding classified documents

In June, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) stated she wants the House sergeant at arms to arrest Attorney General Merrick Garland and bring him to Congress. Luna explained that Congress can hold someone in jail in the Capitol or D.C. if they don’t cooperate. She stressed that Congress takes non-cooperation very seriously and there will be consequences.

On July 3rd, Luna issued a warning to Garland, giving him until the morning of July 5th to hand over the requested audio tapes or face custody. She questioned why the attorney general should be treated differently than anyone else. Luna asked Garland to bring the tapes to the House for review. If Garland does not comply, Luna plans to call the privilege motion on Inherent Contempt to the floor.

Luna faced GOP pushback to her proposal to arrest and detain Garland. Luna confirmed that her proposal did not have enough votes to pass. She expressed frustration with criticism from within her party, urging those unhappy with GOP votes to get active rather than criticize her.

Rep. Norman now asserts that the party has the necessary votes. The final vote was 216 to 207, with Rep. David Joyce of Ohio being the only Republican to vote against the resolution. Norman anticipates passing the resolution without Democratic support, praising Luna’s persistence and planning over the past two years. He acknowledged Luna’s efforts to ensure the resolution would pass the House and address the issue with Garland.

In a post on social media, Luna wrote about the Justice Department’s willingness to jail political enemies and emphasized the need for Congress to rein in what she called a weaponized DOJ. Speaker Mike Johnson fully supports this version of inherent contempt, which Luna believes will become standard practice for those undermining Congress.