The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote tomorrow on whether or not to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. If they do it'll be the first time in history that an AG was the subject of such a vote, and the question I've been hearing - and wondering myself - is what happens next? Where does Congress go with the matter once they vote tomorrow?
Josh Chafetz, a Cornell law professor, has
a column in the Washington Post in which he lays out the possibilities and explains which he thinks most likely and why.
The options Chafetz discusses are these:
- Refer the matter to the Justice Department for prosecution in federal court.
- Sue him in federal court to get him to comply with their demand for documents.
- Have the House sergeant-at-arms arrest him and hold him in jail until the contempt is purged.
None of these is a good idea for reasons Chafetz explains. Thus the most likely path, in his opinion, would be one of the following:
- Impeach Mr. Holder and have him tried in the Senate.
- Cut funding for the entire Department of Justice.
- Refuse to pay Holder's salary until he complies with their demand for documents on the operation.
The fact that Mr. Holder is prepared to undergo any of these ordeals rather than turn over the documents certainly heightens the suspicion that he's trying to hide something extremely damaging to him and/or the White House. The American people have a right to know what it is, and they have the right to know it before they vote in November.
