QUESTION: What is the process for jailing someone for contempt of congress?

[uponit7771]

QUESTION: What is the process for jailing someone for contempt of congress?


Sounds like dems have to go there


Wasn't someone from Clinton era jailed for over 1.5 years for contempt?


Thx in advance

[hlthe2b]

1. Susan McDougal was jailed for contempt over Whitewater investigation

18 months for failing to answer 3 questions from a Grand Jury.

[hlthe2b]

2. If you want all the details of how this works: here, from the Congressional Research Office

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL34097.pdf

Congress’s Contempt Power and the Enforcement of Congressional Subpoenas: Law, History, Practice, and Procedure

It will not be easy, is the short answer.

[RockRaven]

3. There are two separate kinds of contempt -- statutory and inherent

Statutory contempt is a federal criminal statute, ergo must be prosecuted by the DOJ in an Article III court -- that's your normal federal court that Manafort, Cohen, Stone, Gates, etc have been interacting with recently. With someone as nakedly corrupt as Barr running the DOJ, and Trump as POTUS, there is no reason to expect that these charges would be properly prosecuted.

Inherent contempt is a not-often and not-recently used process in which a chamber of Congress can charge/arrest and try/convict/punish someone for contempt. This is a) still subject to a habeas petition but that is the courts only potential role here and b) not pardonable by POTUS. One downside is that the punishment (i.e. jailing) can only last until the session of Congress ends.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contempt_of_Congress

[uponit7771]

4. Hmmmm, sounds like Inherent Contempt is going to have to be exercised. Dems saw Garland get withheld

... from being put in place, republicans don't give a damn about liberal democracies they are openly against one person one vote.

[Vinca]

5. That's interesting. I bet things would change rapidly if Congress started using inherent contempt

and filling a prison wing. How many would be willing to reside in a jail cell for Trump - even for a short time? Add to that their legal bills piling up and the tide would probably turn pretty quickly. Dems have got to get tough over this.

[HAB911]

6. +++++++++++

[uponit7771]

8. +1

[UniteFightBack]

7. All I know is that I'm glad Pelosi is at the helm since she knows her shit and I trust her with

what to do.

[tritsofme]

9. The process is: It doesn't happen.

The House may vote to hold an individual in criminal contempt of Congress, but all they can do is refer the case to DOJ, who in turn can decline to prosecute. This is the exact scenario that played out in 2012, when the House held AG Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.

Inherent contempt is a pipe dream, and those pushing it should be mostly ignored. Why do you suppose House Republicans didn’t lock up Holder under this authority? Because they were just too warm and fuzzy toward the guy?