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Republicans FAIL to slap Merrick Garland with $10K-a-day fine for withholding Biden audio tapes as vote spectacularly goes down
The Republican-led effort to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland accountable for 'hiding' President Biden's audio tapes spectacularly failed in a stunning vote showing ongoing turmoil in both GOP and Democrat camps.
The resolution would have fined Garland $10,000 for every day that he does not hand over audio recordings from Biden's special counsel interview in which he appeared 'old and elderly.'
The resolution was brought to the floor after Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., forced a vote on it by making it 'privileged.' But it embarrassingly failed on the floor 210 to 204 - 12 Republicans missed votes, as did seven Democrats.
Immediately before the doomed vote, House Republicans also failed to pass their own spending bill to fund the legislative branch of government in 2025.
They had hoped to capitalize on Democratic chaos after Biden's disastrous debate performance by projecting unity. 10 House Democrats have now publicly called on Biden to step down from the top of the 2024 ticket.
The resolution would have fined Garland $10,000 for every day that he does not hand over audio recordings from Biden's special counsel interview in which he appeared 'old and elderly'
Holding an official in inherent contempt usually means after a House vote the sergeant-at-arms would be instructed to arrest the official, which is what Luna had originally proposed. But fearing such drastic measures could not pass, she changed the consequences to a steep fine.
It's not clear what measures the House would have been able to take to force Garland to pay the fine.
Former President Donald Trump lended his support to Luna's efforts in a Truth Social post on Wednesday.
'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!,' he wrote.
The Florida Republican and with a social media influencer past was undeterred by the eye-rolling at her proposal.
The Hur tapes are not just an issue of national security, as it is evident Joe Biden is impaired, but has now become a criminal organized effort to usurp Congress as a co-equal branch of government,' Luna said.
The Florida Republican has criticized the Justice Department's refusal to turn over the audio from President Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur about his handling of classified documents, moving to hold the attorney general in contempt.
The resolution was brought to the floor after Rep. Anna Paulina Luna forced a vote on it by making it 'privileged'
'The Hur tapes are not just an issue of national security, as it is evident Joe Biden is impaired, but has now become a criminal organized effort to usurp Congress as a co-equal branch of government,' she said.
'I'll vote for it, but as a constitutional litigator, former constitutional litigator, my preference is to follow the legal process and legal proceedings that protect the institution. I frankly have a little pause,' Speaker Mike Johnson said in a news conference Tuesday.
By Thursday, he had slightly changed tune. He called it an 'extreme measure' but said it's an appropriate 'last straw' on Fox Business' Mornings with Maria.
Johnson suggested he wasn't sure how the fine could be enforced. 'It hasn't been done before so there's no precedent to show how to do it ... we'll see how it's enforced.'
He wrongly predicted the resolution would pass.
Inherent contempt which was last used in 1934 on Washington Lawyer William MacCracken, who spent 10 days in prison for refusing to comply with a Senate subpoena.
Garland handed over the transcripts of the Biden special counsel interview but not the audio. The Department of Justice has insisted that blasting out the audio would hurt their ability to get recorded interviews in the future.
Even those at the forefront of the Biden impeachment efforts distanced themselves from Luna's efforts.
After the presidential debate GOP Whip Tom Emmer suggested the audio tapes might be irrelevant at this point.
'Now I think we know why they won't release, the tapes of special counsel for Hur. Maybe we don't need them anymore. We saw what we needed to,' Emmer said.
'I think if Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna wants to offer that, you know, God bless her, I'd support it,' Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan told DailyMail.com. 'But I think we're focused on going to court and winning in court.'
'I'll vote for it if it comes up for a vote,' Oversight Chairman James Comer told DailyMail.com. 'I don't think there's anywhere near the votes for that. I don't think it's necessary and I worry that would somehow unintentionally harm the court case.'
'The last time that was used, I think members of Congress rode horses to the Capitol. So, you know, no one knows how to implement that. And I don't think that's necessary, because we've already held him in contempt.'
Comer and Jordan have insisted the audio is necessary not to embarrass Biden but as a way to check to check if the Justice Department had edited the transcript it had handed over of the interview that led special counsel Robert Hur to describe Biden as an 'elderly man with a poor memory.'
Last month House Republicans voted to hold Garland in regular contempt and the Judiciary Committee has filed a lawsuit over the tapes.