House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there may be more contempt-of-Congress citations coming in the ongoing, unprecedented power struggle with the president, who's said he intends to fight 'all of the subpoenas' issued by House Democrats. The scope and nature of Congress' powers to investigate
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there may be more contempt-of-Congress citations coming in the ongoing, unprecedented power struggle with the president, who's said he intends to fight"all of the subpoenas" issued by House Democrats.
How does contempt work, and what does executive privilege have to do with it?A contempt citation is Congress' tool to try to force compliance with a subpoena. It takes a vote of the full House on a contempt resolution -- a simple majority vote -- before someone can be said to be in contempt of Congress.
Normally, Congress would refer any contempt citation to the U.S. Attorney in Washington, but in this case it would not result in any further criminal prosecution. John Bies, a Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel veteran who dealt with many Congressional standoffs, explains,"Under a long-standing DOJ position on the contempt statute, anyone acting at the direction of a president cannot be held criminally liable.
And Congress often holds someone in contempt in conjunction with a vote to authorize civil litigation to enforce a subpoena, according to Bies. Another option available to Congress, of course, through the Constitution, is the power of impeachment. For now, Democratic leaders are staying far from it, but it's worth remembering that one of the articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon was contempt of Congress.
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