Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13) doubled down on her claim that Democrats are considering how to detain White House officials who defy congressional subpoenas in a recent interview.
As The Michigan Star reported, Tlaib told her constituents during a town hall in Detroit that she and her colleagues were looking at arresting White House officials who ignore subpoenas.
“Do you know this is really unprecedented? This is the first time we’ve ever had a situation like this,” she said. “So they’re trying to figure out—no joke—they’re trying to figure out well is it the DC police that goes and gets them? Where do we hold them?”
“I will tell them they can hold all those people right here in Detroit,” she added. “We’ll take care of them and make sure they show up to the committee hearings.”
Tlaib received widespread criticism for her comments from Republican colleagues and was called a “fascist” by the Republican National Committee.
But she doubled down on the comments in a Saturday interview with Deadline Detroit.
“If they were to detain someone, where would they go and have them detained so that they can comply with the subpoenas?” Tlaib told the outlet. “There have been actual serious conversations about what 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.”
She said Democrats are using their “own legal support” and “legal experts” instead of the “tainted and conflicted U.S. Attorney General’s office.”
Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, said in response that he’s considering filing a lawsuit against Tlaib and others for “witness intimidation.”
“This is evidence of a conspiracy to violate civil rights and to defraud us,” Giuliani said of Tlaib’s remarks.
Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA-03) told CNN in a recent interview that he believes anyone who doesn’t cooperate with the impeachment inquiry should go to jail.
“I think it’s time to call in the sergeant-at-arms and march them off to our little jail, which we do happen to have,” he said. “Let them sit there and cool off for a while.”
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Rashida Tlaib” by Rashida Tlaib.
Just about the dumbest idea yet. How does someone this stupid get elected?