Mike Johnson sparks fury as he vows to take Merrick Garland contempt case to court after DOJ snub
WASHINGTON, DC: In a nation already deeply divided along party lines, the latest political confrontation between House Republicans and the Department of Justice (DOJ) has set the stage for a potential constitutional showdown.
At the center of this unfolding drama is House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has vowed to take the contempt of Congress case against Attorney General Merrick Garland to federal court, defying the DOJ's refusal to pursue charges, as per The Hill.
Mike Johnson promises to take Merrick Garland's contempt case to federal court
“I will be certifying the contempt reports to the US Attorney for the District of Columbia,” the Louisiana Republican said. “We will also move to enforce the subpoena of Attorney General Garland in federal court.”
Johnson's statement on Friday, June 14, decried the DOJ's refusal to prosecute Garland for defying congressional subpoenas, drawing a stark comparison to how the department has handled similar cases involving allies of former President Donald Trump.
"It is sadly predictable that the Biden administration’s Justice Department will not prosecute Garland for defying congressional subpoenas even though the department aggressively prosecuted Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro for the same thing," Johnson said.
"This is yet another example of the two-tiered system of justice brought to us by the Biden administration," he added.
Earlier that day, the DOJ concluded that Garland had not committed a crime by failing to comply with House Republicans’ subpoenas for audio recordings of special counsel Robert Hur’s conversation with President Joe Biden, related to the president’s classified documents investigation.
This move follows the House Republicans' vote earlier in the week to hold Garland in contempt of Congress after the DOJ refused to hand over the requested audio. The DOJ explained that Republicans already had the transcript of the conversation, which reportedly did not contain any information relevant to the GOP’s impeachment investigation.
In a statement responding to the contempt vote, Garland expressed his disappointment, accusing the House of turning "congressional authority into a partisan weapon." The DOJ’s decision aligns with a memo from its Office of Legal Counsel, which argues that Biden’s claim of executive privilege over the tapes protects Garland from prosecution.
The DOJ's stance on not prosecuting Garland is consistent with previous decisions in similar scenarios. The department had also declined to prosecute former Attorney General Bill Barr in 2019 when House Democrats held him in contempt for not providing documents related to an investigation into Trump.
Similarly, the DOJ opted not to prosecute former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows after he was held in contempt for failing to cooperate with the House panel investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
Mike Johnson sparks backlash online with vow to take action in Merrick Garland's contempt case
Johnson’s announcement of vowing to take Garland's contempt case to court sparked intense backlash across social media. One Facebook user commented, "When the provided transcripts just aren’t enough and you’re losing and need a sound bite for an ad." Another echoed the sentiment of political vendetta by saying, "Because revenge is all they can do."
"And nothing will happen because you can't force the Justice Department to prosecute someone. Nice attempt at political theater. Johnson," one user wrote. Another criticized the move as a waste of resources: "Johnson deliberately wasting taxpayers money and time on bogus investigation. They do nothing Congress Republicans."
Further reflecting public discontent, another user added, "These spineless Republicans are wasting our tax dollars and are completely useless," while another remarked on Johnson's past legal struggles, "Johnson has quite a record of courtroom losses."
The criticism continued with calls for Congress to focus on more pressing issues: "When are these morons going to stop this vindictive nonsense and start doing the job they were elected to do."
The backlash included personal digs at Johnson's professional background, with one user stating, "There is a reason Mike was a broke constitutional lawyer."
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