Rashida Tlaib’s enthusiasm for jailing Trump administration officials who don’t comply with House subpoenas in the impeachment inquiry isn’t supported by most of her Democratic colleagues.
The first-term Michigan representative, best known for her call to “impeach the motherf—–“ — President Trump — and an unrelenting hostility toward Israel, said in a recent interview House Democrats mulled potentially jailing Trump aides and allies who did not comply with subpoenas, a measure known as inherent contempt.
“If they were to detain someone, where would they go and have them detained so that they can comply with the subpoenas?” said Tlaib. “There have been actual serious conversations about what the logistics would look like … if we did have to force someone through a court order to come before the Congressional committee. This is pretty uncharted territory for many of us and even for Congress.”
Trump angrily responded on Twitter calling Tlaib a “despicable” human being.
However, fellow House Democrats do not appear to recall any discussions about detaining Trump staff or allies who refuse to comply with subpoenas issued by Democrats leading the impeachment inquiry on Capitol Hill.
“That would not be the way to go because it’s never been tried … besides, [Trump administration officials] are already beginning to break. I’ve just come from the closed sessions with State Department personnel that have come to testify anyway,” Washington, D.C., Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton told the Washington Examiner.
Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, a member of the House Democratic leadership, told the Washington Examiner he was “not aware” of any discussions about charging inherent contempt against Trump administration personnel.
“It would be a good idea if they started complying with subpoenas,” he added.
California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, a member of the House Progressive Caucus, also appeared unaware that any consideration to detain Trump administration members was ever taken seriously.
“I think we’re going to go through the courts and we’re going to enforce vigorously through the courts,” Khanna said. “ It’s just that we’re having a very successful litigation strategy and we’re going to continue aggressively to pursue that.”
