Representative Anna Paulina Luna says she'll force a vote on directing the House Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest Joe Biden's Attorney General Merrick Garland for contempt of Congress this week.
According to the Florida Republican, she intends to introduce a privileged resolution invoking Congress's constitutional power of inherent contempt after the Biden Department of Justice said they would not pursue charges against Garland.
Two weeks ago, the Attorney General was held in contempt of Congress after refusing to hand over audio recordings of 81-year-old Joe Biden's interview sessions with DOJ special counsel Robert Hur regarding the mishandling of classified documents.
Prior to the vote, Garland acknowledged that the transcripts of the interviews had been edited for clarity, raising the question of whether evidence of Biden's cognitive decline had been altered.
"The only option to ensure compliance with our subpoena is to use our constitutional authority of inherent contempt," Rep. Luna said.
"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 added: "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."Meanwhile, Biden DOJ officials argued on June 14 that the contempt resolution does not preempt Joe Biden's assertion of executive privilege regarding the audio recordings.
At a hearing before the House contempt vote, Attorney General Garland argued: "Releasing the audio would chill cooperation with the department in future investigations and it could influence witnesses' answers if they thought the audio of their law enforcement interviews would be broadcast to Congress and the public."
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