Trump offers support for Luna push to hold Garland in contempt
Former President Trump expressed support for Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s (R-Fla.) effort to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt.
Luna signaled that she plans to move to call up her resolution to hold Garland in “inherent contempt” of Congress sometime this week. The Florida Republican has criticized the Justice Department’s refusal to turn over the audio from President Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur about his handling of classified documents, moving to hold the attorney general in contempt.
Instead of directing the House sergeant-at-arms to take Garland into custody to enforce the GOP subpoena for the tapes, Luna’s resolution would fine Garland $10,000 per day until he turns over the audio.
In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump said he agreed with the move to hold Garland in contempt over the tapes.
“I AGREE with Anna Paulina Luna and the many House Members who think Merrick Garland should be held in INHERENT CONTEMPT for refusing to release the Biden Tapes even though they were subpoenaed!,” he wrote.
He also called on House Republicans to subpoena special counsel Jack Smith over his investigations into him, which he described as “illegal.” He urged Republicans to also pass the the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote in an election.
“Republicans MUST GET TOUGH about stopping weaponization and cheating! They may just be coming for me and my elections today, but they will come for all the Republicans very soon if they succeed!” Trump said.
Luna said in a recent post on social media platform X that she will bring a vote on the resolution Wednesday. In a statement, she argued that holding Garland in inherent contempt is “the ONLY mechanism that can be used to force compliance with subpoenas.”
“The Hur tapes are not just an issue of national security, as it is evident Joe Biden is impaired, but has now become a criminal organized effort to usurp Congress as a co-equal branch of government,” she said.
She also sent a letter to Democrats earlier this week asking them to support her effort by pointing to rising concerns about Biden’s age and ability to do his job following a rocky debate performance last month.
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