At a meeting of House leaders earlier this month, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler suggested fining officials personally if they deny or ignore subpoenas, according to a person who attended the meeting. Nadler even mentioned jailing administration officials as a consequence for contempt of
-- The Trump administration is fighting House Democrats’ investigative inquiries at every turn. Some Democrats want to make them pay.
Just this month, House committees have demanded an unredacted copy of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, six years of President Donald Trump’s personal and business tax returns and testimony on White House security clearances. To avoid a similar delay, some lawyers have advocated that the House vote for a new rule to allow it to fine people outside the court system for noncompliance with congressional subpoenas. The process, called “inherent contempt” because courts have said the power is an inherent part of Congress’ legislative powers, was mostly mothballed in recent years because it was politically unpalatable.
Rosenberg himself drafted a proposed rule that would allow the House to fine someone $25,000 per day for not complying with a subpoena. If the official still didn’t comply, he or she could face criminal prosecution. Rosenberg said he’s had discussions with some Democrats in the House about his proposal but declined to say with whom.
Nathan said the House could pass a rule to impose fines without Senate approval. However, the departments the officials work for might end up being able to pay the fines out of the their own funds, rather than have the official be responsible, he said.
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