'Arrest and Detain Giuliani Right Now,' Say Critics, After Trump Lawyer Refuses Congressional Subpoena

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President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday told Congress he would not comply with a subpoena to hand over documents related to the House impeachment inquiry investigation into the White House's dealings with Ukraine—a move that critics noted could land him in jail.

"Giuliani and Trump must both think they're above the law," said CNN contributor Keith Boykin.

The president's lawyer was ordered on September 30 to hand over documents related to his efforts to pressure Ukrainian officials to open an investigation into Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, a frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination for the 2020 general election.

Giuliani did not reply to a request for comment but told ABC, "If they enforce it then we will see what happens."

By ignoring the subpoena, Giuliani is setting up yet another clash between the executive and legislative branches in the course of the inquiry. As Common Dreams reported, Trump announced on October 8 he would not cooperate with the inquiry, setting up a clear constitutional crisis.

Tuesday's refusal by Giuliani to comply with the subpoena appears certain to exacerbate the tension betweeen the two branches.

"Oh! I had no idea that law was optional," tweeted actress Lisa Ann Walter. "Good to know for when taxes or traffic tickets come up!"

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Giuliani's lawyer, Jon Sale, wrote to Congress that the inquiry was "unconstitutional, baseless, and illegitimate."

"In addition," wrote Sale, "the subpoena is overbroad, unduly burdensome, and seeks documents beyond the scope of legitimate inquiry."

As journalist Judd Legum observed, Giuliani's behavior leaves the House with a clear enforcement option: arrest him.

Using its "inherent contempt" authority, Congress has the power to arrest and detain Giuliani right now. https://t.co/CSsaaBRPlt https://t.co/b6RETUTeyq pic.twitter.com/3RKOzgxCOv — Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) October 15, 2019

Scientist Kevin Fox opined on Twitter that if House Democrats don't deal with the president's lawyer now, they're risking future trouble.

"Giuliani is going to be the trial balloon for the backbone of the House," said Fox. "They'll need to hold him in inherent contempt and jail him or the rest of their subpoenas become impotent."

cosmos_jm on October 16th, 2019 at 01:20 UTC »

I'm a lawyer and I also have a degree in Political Science. I've studied Constitutional law for 11 years. A lot of people are confused about Congressional subpoenas.

What I know is that Congress has a right to subpoena, inherent in their power to legislate, which defines investigatory scope and creates a Congressional subpoena process entirely separate from the process for judicial subpoenas. To summarize what defines the justiciability of congressional subpoenas, review the following from the "Contempt of Congress" wikipedia page as it is succinct and accurate:

"As announced in Wilkinson v. United States,[7] a Congressional committee must meet three requirements for its subpoenas to be "legally sufficient." First, the committee's investigation of the broad subject area must be authorized by its chamber; second, the investigation must pursue "a valid legislative purpose" but does not need to involve legislation and does not need to specify the ultimate intent of Congress; and third, the specific inquiries must be pertinent to the subject matter area that has been authorized for investigation.

The Court held in Eastland v. United States Servicemen's Fund[8] that Congressional subpoenas are within the scope of the Speech and Debate clause which provides "an absolute bar to judicial interference" once it is determined that Members are acting within the "legitimate legislative sphere" with such compulsory process. Under that ruling, courts generally do not hear motions to quash Congressional subpoenas; even when executive branch officials refuse to comply, courts tend to rule that such matters are "political questions" unsuitable for judicial remedy. In fact, many legal rights usually associated with a judicial subpoena do not apply to a Congressional subpoena. For example, attorney-client privilege and information that is normally protected under the Trade Secrets Act do not need to be recognized.[9]"

The three elements for a valid committee subpoena are clearly met. The overseeing committee is authorized by the Speaker to commence the inquiry; Congress has a vested institutional interest in checking and balancing the power of a manic and potentially traitorous executive branch; and lastly, the inquiries are pertinent to the subject matter area. (Giuliani claims to be Trumps lawyer and is implicated directly in the Ukraine scandal).

If Giuliani refuses to answer the subpoena he is undoubtedly in Contempt of Congress.

For further reading, I recommend this Justia article:

https://law.justia.com/constitution/us/article-1/05-congressional-investigations.html

Inflatable_Potato on October 15th, 2019 at 21:28 UTC »

I like radiofever 's suggestion.

I'd very much like to see the House send a formal letter to Barr at the DOJ requesting assistance in forcing compliance with this legal subpeona.

When the DOJ makes a formal response of no, use that against Barr, and then you know inherent contempt and pending criminal charges is what you go with.

ValiantCorvus on October 15th, 2019 at 21:24 UTC »

He's not a government employee, he literally has no privilege to cite as an excuse to ignore congressional subpoena.

Send the Sargeant at arms after his ass and lock him up until he complies. Stop handling these shysters with kid gloves.