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dpibel

(3,686 posts)
8. But Congress can't enforce its own subpoena
Wed Jul 6, 2022, 03:39 PM
Jul 2022

Congress has no ability (other than the possibility of inherent contempt) to enforce a subpoena. It can ask the AG to enforce, and, as demonstrated by the Meadows case, the AG may or may not.

A court, OTOH, has at its immediate disposal the constabulary and the jail. A judge can instruct the bailiff to march you straight from the courtroom to a cell if you're sufficiently contemptuous.

IOW, a one-step process for a judicial subpoena; a two-step one for Congressional.

There are assuredly complexities in the Graham subpoena, not least of which is how much compulsion a court can exercise over a nonresident witness. I don't know the answer to that.

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