Politico Congress reporter Olivia Beavers reported on Tuesday that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is imploring Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) to hold off introducing her inherent contempt resolution against Attorney General Merrick Garland today, Wednesday.
According to a source present in the GOP conference, Speaker Johnson is facing tough resistance as Rep. Luna is determined to proceed with her resolution.
“This comes after she told conference at the mics that she’d bring up contempt and it will be on the floor Wednesday. She told members that she amendmended it so it’s not arresting him but fining him,” Beavers wrote.
Last month, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fl) informed fellow lawmakers of her intention to introduce a resolution compelling the House sergeant at arms to detain Attorney General Merrick Garland and present him before the lower chamber.
“Under inherent contempt, the individual is brought before the bar of the House by the Sergeant at Arms, tried by the body, and can then be detained either in the Capitol or in D.C.,” Luna said. “This process demonstrates the seriousness with which Congress views non-compliance and the potential consequences for those who refuse to cooperate.”
Last Wednesday, Rep. Luna issued a stern warning to Garland, giving him until Friday morning to hand over the requested audio tapes or face custody.
“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,” Rep. Luna said in a press conference.
However, rather than introducing a privilege motion on inherent contempt on Friday, Rep. Luna proposed a resolution to impose a daily fine of $10,000 on Garland, to be paid out of his own pocket until he complies.
This new resolution comes as Luna faces pushback from RINOs to her proposal to arrest and detain Garland. In response to The Gateway Pundit’s reporting, Rep. Luna confirmed that the proposal to arrest and detain Garland does not have enough votes to pass.
“There were members who said they didn’t support the other version. Meaning it would fail… Either way, I am literally the only person that brainstormed any accountability. If you dont like how the GOP VOTES as a whole get active, but trashing me without knowing details is exactly what the left does,” Luna wrote.
In addition to this, Luna confirmed an attempt to block her resolution by bringing up a “bill of attainder”, which she argues does not apply in this case.
“I can confirm this. I can also confirm that there was an attempted to block this resolution by bringing up a “bill of attainder” which does not apply to this & is a last ditch effort to block this. I have a graphic with legal argument coming,” Luna wrote.
I can confirm this. I can also confirm that there was an attempted to block this resolution by bringing up a “bill of attainder” which does not apply to this & is a last ditch effort to block this. I have a graphic with legal argument coming. Pls repost. @MikeBenzCyber Pelosi… https://t.co/V7WbSY4HKq
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) July 9, 2024
— Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) July 10, 2024
In an interview with Greg Kelly, Luna revealed that she got blocked by Speaker Johnson after consulting him about her resolution to arrest Garland.
“Last week, I was going to bring the vote forward. And then, after speaking to the Speaker, he said, ‘Look, I will support a resolution that brings a $10,000 a day fine to be personally paid by Garland for every day that he ignores a subpoena.’ And then ultimately, that’s a really incredible accountability mechanism, because what we’re finding right now is that people have not only ignored subpoenas, but also, remember, Greg, there are people that have gone to jail. And so for people that say, ‘Well, why isn’t Garland going to jail?’ You guys have to understand that I’m only one member of Congress and that we need multiple Republicans to vote for this,” Luna said.
For those asking ‘why isn’t Garland going to jail?’ It’s simple: we need consensus in order to actually hold him accountable. My new inherent contempt resolution has the support of @SpeakerJohnson and other chairmen of the conference. Garland will pay if he does not comply. pic.twitter.com/7EjEle9oMN
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) July 9, 2024
Now, after blocking Luna’s initial resolution to arrest Garland, Speaker Johnson reportedly told Luna to hold off introducing her inherent contempt resolution because the House had already filed a lawsuit to enforce the subpoena—a less confrontational approach. Johnson sure sounds like he’s protecting Garland.
Speaker Johnson said he shares her concern over the matter which is why House has filed a lawsuit to enforce the subpoena, per another source in the room
— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) July 9, 2024
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) confirmed that the RINOs won’t vote to hold Garland accountable.
“Thank goodness for Ana Paulina Luna. But we can’t even get a majority vote to actually hold Merrick Garland and bring him in, where the sergeant-at-arms holds him in custody until he gives us the audio of that special counsel interview with Joe Biden. We’ll probably end up with a $10,000-a-day… fine, but they’re going to immediately throw a spoke into the wheel on that. And that’s the problem. We need to even it up because when you do that, this type of thing—where they go after people like Steve Bannon, Peter Navarro, and others—dries up because they experience the same pain and they don’t want to experience that pain.”
WATCH:
Merrick Garland defied lawful congressional subpoenas and continues to walk freely.
Political targets like Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro stand against an illegitimate partisan committee and are thrown behind bars.
Congress must do more to right the ship. pic.twitter.com/yPsJ8dcFAe
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) July 9, 2024
Merrick Garland is currently holding former Trump advisers Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon in prison for defying a Congressional subpoena to testify before Liz Cheney’s Jan. 6 Subcommittee. The same subcommittee that refused to seat Republican members who they believed were fair-minded Trump supporters.
Steve committed the crime of defying a subpoena by the sham January 6 subcommittee. Bannon was jailed weeks after Trump strategist Peter Navarro was jailed in Florida for committing the same crime – failing to testify before Liz Cheney’s sham Jan. 6 Subcommittee.
The post Worse Than McCarthy: Speaker Johnson Implores Rep. Luna to Hold Off on Her Inherent Contempt Resolution Against AG Garland, Who Is Currently Holding Two Top Trump Officials in Jail for the Same Crime He Committed appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
