Contempt of Congress: what it means for Holder

On yesterday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was found in contempt of Congress in the House of Representatives for not complying fully on a request made by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Holder is being compelled to release documents pertaining to the "Fast and Furious" investigation. 

What can happen now to Holder is questionable since President Obama has invoked Executive Privilege and because contempt citations are normally carried out by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia,  Ronald Machen, who answers to Holder, the Attorney General.

Under US Code: Title 2, 192, Refusal of witness to testify or produce papers, the person found in contempt "willfully makes default...shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 nor less than $100 and imprisonment in a common jail for not less than one month nor more than twelve months."

Early in U.S. history, some notable contempt of Congress measures occurred: the Robet Randal attempt to bribe South Carolina Representative William Smith in 1795; refusal of newspaper editor William Duane to answer Senate questions in 1800; and Nathaniel Rounsavell's refusal to release sensitive information to the press in 1812.

Since 1975, only four other people besides Holder have been found in contempt of Congress: Anne M. Gorsuch, EPA Administrator under President Ronald Reagan; Rita Marie Lavelle who was convicted on federal charges of perjury related to an investigation of the EPA known as "Sewergate"; and Harriet Ellan Miers and Joshua Brewster Bolten caught up in controversy concerning firings of U.S. attorneys.

Source: Wikipedia.
©2012 Tomi Johnson. All rights reserved