For immediate release: May 9, 2012

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.

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