Cohen: If Barr Doesn’t Comply with Subpoenas, ‘No Other Alternative’ But Using Sergeant at Arms to B

[Right_in_Virginia]

Cohen: If Barr Doesn’t Comply with Subpoenas, ‘No Other Alternative’ But Using Sergeant at Arms to Bring Him in
Breitbart, May 3, 2019, IAN HANCHETT

On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “AC360,” House Judiciary Committee member Steve Cohen (D-TN) stated that if Attorney General William Barr doesn’t comply with the committee’s subpoenas, the committee has “no other alternative” but to use the sergeant at arms to bring Barr to the House.

Cohen said, “I hope it would be inherent contempt. Because in inherent contempt, we’d go out, take him, and bring him in, and have him personally brought to the House.”
 
Host Anderson Cooper asked, “You actually want to send out the sergeant at arms and force the attorney general to come?”
 
Cohen answered, “Yes. Because otherwise, it’s up to the Justice Department. The Justice Department is not going to do anything to take a contempt citation from us, and enforce it against their boss. So, you’ve got an impossible situation there, and it leaves us no other alternative except to use our sergeant at arms and to bring him in.”


Video at link:  https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2019/05/03/house-judiciary-dem-cohen-if-barr-doesnt-comply-with-subpoenas-no-other-alternative-but-using-sergeant-at-arms-to-bring-him-in/

[Right_in_Virginia]

[Sanguine]

I wonder if the Sergeant at Arms would even do that.  Is that legal?

[Free Vulcan]

With what jurisdiction?

[skeeter]

They really are determined to destroy this guy before he can blow open their little coup plot.

[Elderberry]

https://www.lawfareblog.com/congressional-subpoena-power-and-executive-privilege-coming-showdown-between-branches

That leaves Congress’s inherent contempt power, which means relying on the legislature’s own constitutional authority to detain and jail a contemnor until the individual complies with congressional demands. What does that actually look like? It’s not very pretty—which is why the inherent contempt process has not been used by either body since 1935, when a Herbert Hoover administration official was held briefly in the Willard Hotel. While there is no “Capitol Jail,” the Capitol Police do maintain a holding cell a few blocks away at the Capitol Police Department. At the current moment, the prospect of the House sending the sergeant-at-arms of the Capitol to arrest an administration official would likely not sit well with a public that does not favor physical confrontation in U.S. politics.

[EdJames]

I'm wondering if these monsters are desperate enough to push this to that level....  even attempting to capture Barr and bring him to the Capitol will throw gasoline on the fire....

[rustynail]

Is the ' Sergeant at Arms' a lib?

[sneakypete]

I wonder if the Sergeant at Arms would even do that.  Is that legal?

@Sanguine

More importantly,would it be wise for the SAM to do that?

Ever heard of "Unintended Consequences"?

[sneakypete]

Is the ' Sergeant at Arms' a lib?

@rustynail

More importantly,is he willing to become a public figure with a bullseye on his back?

I can see how this could easily get out of hand,and it there is a slim possibility (slim,due to a lack of balls in DC) it would maybe even be the shot that started the 2nd American Revolution.

If we are not willing to stop the leftist enemies in Congress over this insane grab for the power to intimidate,what WOULD it take?

[mrclose]

These @$$holes have gone "Off the rails!"

On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “AC360,” House Judiciary Committee
member Steve Cohen (D-TN) stated that if Attorney General William Barr
doesn’t comply with the committee’s subpoenas, the committee has “no
other alternative” but to use the sergeant at arms to bring Barr to the
House.

Cohen said, “I hope it would be inherent contempt.
Because in inherent contempt, we’d go out, take him, and bring him in, and have
 him personally brought to the House.”

Host Anderson Cooper asked, “You actually want to send out the sergeant at arms and force the attorney general to come?”
Cohen answered, “Yes. Because otherwise, it’s up to the Justice Department. The Justice Department is not going to do anything to take a contempt citation from us, and enforce it against their boss.

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2019/05/03/house-judiciary-dem-cohen-if-barr-doesnt-comply-with-subpoenas-no-other-alternative-but-using-sergeant-at-arms-to-bring-him-in/

[Fishrrman]

The House sergeant at arms vs. a phalanx of armed FBI agents.

Ought to be an interesting test of power...

[Mod5]

Topics merged.

[Cyber Liberty]

These @$$holes have gone "Off the rails!"

Eric Holder did not respond to a request for comment.

[truth_seeker]

I wonder if the Sergeant at Arms would even do that.  Is that legal?

Before the Death of Journalism, a reporter would cite precedents, if any.

[240B]

I hope he does call the Cops on Barr.
It would be hilarious, and it would accomplish nothing more than Kabuki Theater.
Barr should go with him, laughing the whole time.
Eric Holder is the precedent. He was convicted of 'Contempt of Congress', and absolutely nothing came of it.
It was a ghost conviction. It was vapor. It was a 'nothing' charge.

[Wingnut]

Cohen's next meal...

[kidd]

The Congressman who signs the order to have Barr taken into custody would almost certainly face prison time for obstruction of justice

[Wingnut]

They have truly lost their minds.