Employment Resources

Job Banks Buttons

  • Social Buttons



Connect with Carter

  • Connect with Carter

     
     

Search A Bill

Office Location

  • Office Locations

    Washington, D.C. Office
    409 C.H.O.B.
    Washington, D.C. 20515
    (202) 225-3864

    Round Rock District Office
    One Financial Centre
    1717 North IH 35
    Suite 303
    Round Rock, TX 78664
    (512) 246-1600

    Bell County Office
    6544B S. General Bruce Drive
    Temple, TX 76502
    Located next to the DPS office
    (254) 933-1392

Contact John

E-Newsletter Signup

Print

Carter Supports Contempt Charges against U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder

05/09/12

For immediate release: May 9, 2012

 

(WASHINGTON, DC) – House Republican Conference Secretary John Carter has pledged support for contempt of congress charges against U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder if Holder does not fully comply with the latest subpoena issued by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa for information on the Fast and Furious gun scandal. 

“The Rule of Law cannot tolerate the refusal by the highest-ranking law enforcement official in America to comply with a lawful subpoena,” says Carter.  “If a county sheriff appearing before my court engaged in this conduct, I would order the bailiff to immediately place him under arrest and incarcerate him in the county jail, where he would stay until he could show cause that he be released.”

Carter, a Texas district court judge for 20 years before coming to Congress, says he will fully support contempt proceedings against Holder if Chairman Issa determines the committee’s subpoena requirements have not been met, and will actively encourage other Members to do the same.

Contempt of Congress - Title II USC Sec.192 (Refusal of Witness to Testify or Produce Papers) - has been a criminal misdemeanor offense since 1857.  Conviction carries a penalty of up to one year in jail and a fine up to $100,000.  The right of Congress to file contempt charges was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1821, and the law most recently amended in 1984.  Under the procedure, the full House must approve contempt charges by a recorded vote, after which the case is forwarded to U.S. District Court for prosecution. 

The most recent case brought to conclusion was the 1983 trial of EPA official Rita Lavelle, in which the House found her in contempt on a 413-0 vote.  While she was later acquitted of the contempt charge in court, she was convicted of perjury on a separate charge and served a brief prison term.  Most cases in which the House votes for contempt charges result in compliance by the Administration or charged parties, ending the process before actual court trial.

###