Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is now threatening to force a vote on a measure to impose a $10,000 per day fine on Attorney General Merrick Garland for every day he does not turn over audio tapes of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s interview with President Biden.
Luna said she would force a vote on her inherent contempt resolution against Garland on Friday, but a source familiar with the matter said she agreed to delay that move after a conversation with Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. Luna later confirmed on X, formerly Twitter, that she intends to call up that vote next week.
Inherent contempt is a rarely-used congressional maneuver that would effectively allow the House to try and convict Garland.
She filed a new resolution to both hold Garland in inherent contempt and fine him for the tapes on Friday, and is expected to declare the measure ‘privileged’ when the House is back in session on July 8.
Deeming a resolution ‘privileged’ forces the House to take it up within two legislative days.
Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson’s office for further comment.
While Luna had been prepping her inherent contempt resolution for some time, the added threat of fines comes after Biden’s disastrous debate performance against former President Trump on CNN last Thursday.
The 81-year-old president spoke with a hoarse voice, reportedly due to a cold, and stumbled over his own answers several times during the primetime event. Viewers also observed him appearing tired and noticeably less sharp than he looked the last time he faced Trump in 2020.
It’s prompted new pushback from Republicans and even fear among some Democrats that Biden may not be fit for another four years in the White House.
House Republicans, some of whom long held that Biden is not mentally fit for office, voted to hold Garland in contempt of Congress last month for his refusal to turn over audio tapes of Hur’s interview with Biden on his handling of classified documents. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has refused to prosecute, citing Biden’s decision to call executive privilege over the tapes.
Biden’s counter is that the full transcript is already available – he has bashed the GOP effort as nakedly partisan.
But Republicans argue that the tapes would provide necessary context about Biden’s mental acuity that could not be gleaned from the transcript.
The House GOP also sued Garland on Monday in order to obtain the tapes, with the lawsuit being led by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
Fox News Digital was first to report that Luna informed colleagues last week that she intends to force a vote on holding Garland in inherent contempt.
The little-known maneuver, not used since the 1930s, would direct the House sergeant-at-arms to detain Garland for a House-led trial. It’s never been invoked on a Cabinet official, but the Supreme Court upheld Congress’ ability to use it in 1935.