Florida GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said earlier this week during a Fox News interview with host Maria Bartiromo that lawmakers are considering additional measures to hold U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland accountable after the Department of Justice (DOJ) declined to prosecute him for withholding President Biden’s audiotapes and for being held in contempt of Congress.
Luna appeared on “Sunday Morning Futures” to discuss the recent congressional resolution to hold Attorney General Garland in contempt for not releasing audiotapes from special counsel Robert Hur’s interview with President Joe Biden, which pertained to alleged mishandling of classified documents. Host Maria Bartiromo asked about the next steps Congress might take. GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson has expressed intentions to take the matter to the federal courts after the DOJ decided not to prosecute.
“Yeah, so actually, several months ago, I introduced a resolution for something called ‘inherent contempt of Congress.’ This is something that Congress has the authority to do, and it hasn’t been done since the early 1900s,” Luna explained. “Essentially what that does is — I anticipated that the Department of Justice would not do their job, so I had this teed up and ready to go.” (see video below)
“I brought this to Speaker Johnson’s attention, and what that allows Congress to do is really be the punitive arm and really hold Garland accountable by using the sergeant-at-arms to essentially go and get him as well as the tapes, bring them to the well of the House and really be a check and balance on the Department of Justice,” Luna went on.
“Again, this hasn’t been done since the early 1900s, but that vote will be coming to the floor, and hopefully, we will be able to bring some accountability. I know that if this goes to [the] courts, as Johnson has stated, that’s really going to get stuck there. It’s not going to do anything,” she continued. “The American people deserve more than strongly worded letters; I think we’re all frustrated, and so again, we’re hoping to bring that accountability.”
Bartiromo repeatedly pressed Luna about the Republicans’ pursuit of the audiotapes from Garland, despite already possessing transcripts of the conversation. The Fox host questioned Luna’s stance on whether the tapes might have been altered, given reports of the removal of filler words like “um” and “ah.”
“I believe that it’s possible that it’s been doctored, but I also think it’s going to show the American people whether or not Biden is capable of making those decisions. Remember, we have a foreign policy debacle right now. We have Russian warships off of our coast, and if he is not able to stand fit as president — I don’t think that he’s going to be the nominee this November. I think that’s why Democrats are trying to protect him and the DOJ,” Luna said.
WATCH:
We need more GOP lawmakers like Rep. Paulina Luna. She has found a way the House can go after AG Garland after his DOJ refuses to act on the contempt of Congress referral – like it did against Trump advisers Bannon and Navarro. pic.twitter.com/4szTcLuxXz
— USA Features Media (@UsaFeatures) June 17, 2024