Trump praises contempt resolution against AG, asks House to subpoena Jack Smith
A resolution introduced by Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna on Wednesday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in "inherent contempt" narrowly failed to pass.
While former President Donald Trump voiced support for Luna's resolution, he also said the House should go after Special Counsel Jack Smith.
Congresswoman sought to fine Garland $10,000 per day
In a report tabled earlier this year, Special Counsel Robert Hur found that Biden likely broke the law by mishandling classified documents but opted not to recommend charges as the president is an "elderly man with a poor memory."
As Newsweek noted, the House of Representatives voted to hold Garland in contempt last month over his refusal to surrender audio recordings of Hur's interviews with Biden.
However, the Department of Justice (DOJ) declined to prosecute Garland, a fact which prompted Luna to put forward her "inherent contempt" resolution which sought to fine the attorney $10,000 for every day the audio is withheld.
For his part, Trump touted the resolution in a post on Truth Social, writing, "I AGREE with Anna Paulina Luna and the many House Members who think Merrick Garland should be held in INHERENT CONTEMPT for refusing to release the Biden Tapes even though they were subpoenaed!"
Trump calls for "deranged Jack Smith" to be subpoenaed
"The House Republicans should also subpoena Deranged Jack Smith and look into his ILLEGAL INVESTIGATION of me immediately," he continued.
"And they should pass the SAVE ACT immediately to stop illegals from voting in our elections," the former president went on to stress.
Trump was referring to a piece of legislation that passed the House along largely partisan lines that would prohibit non-citizens from voting in federal elections and impose new rules regarding voter roll purges.
The former president concluded by asserting that "Republicans MUST GET TOUGH about stopping weaponization and cheating! They may just be coming for me and my elections today, but they will come for all the Republicans very soon if they succeed!"
Garland accused GOP of deploying "partisan weapon"
For his part, Garland released a statement last month in which he lashed out at Republicans for voting to hold him in contempt.
The Justice Department issued the following statement from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland regarding the U.S. House of Representatives’ vote on H. Res. 1292: https://t.co/20cJlTpVgN pic.twitter.com/XyFsJgv9qv
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) June 12, 2024
"It is deeply disturbing that this House of Representatives has turned a serious congressional authority into a partisan weapon," the attorney general complained.
"Today's vote disregards the constitutional separation of powers, the Justice Department's need to protect its investigations, and the substantial amount of information we have provided to the Committees," he added.
