Does John McCain really have the authority to "have someone arrested"?

[maxrandb]

I know he was the chairman of the committee today. Now, he may be able to ask that people be removed, but when he said; "shut up or I'll have you arrested", it gave me chills.

BTW - Anyone who thought that Sarah Palin should have been a heartbeat from the presidency has no business calling someone else "low-life scum"

[unblock]

1. he can call the sergeant-at-arms to hold someone for a contempt hearing.

[lpbk2713]

2. "Grrr ... git off my grass."

"Or I'll call the cops."

[benz380]

3. He was only defending one of Hillary's dear friends. nt

[onenote]

4. effectively yes

It is against the law to disrupt Congressional hearings. Typically the member chairing a hearing will ask for the Capitol Hill police to remove someone who is disrupting the hearing and while it is up to the police to make the decision whether to arrest the protesters, generally speaking if the committee chair calls on the police to remove the disrupter, its taken as a request/order/suggestion ...call it what you will...to arrest the person. For example when anti-abortion protesters disrupted Sotomayor's confirmation hearing, Chairman Leahy called on the police to remove the protesters, who were then charged with disruption of Congress.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/13/AR2009071302345.html

[Jesus Malverde]

5. Context?

Hearing on what?

Who was threatened?

What were they doing?

Thanks