DPCC Chair Cicilline: No One Is Above the Law
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Cicilline, Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC), appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews on MSNBC to discuss Democrats' Congressional oversight of the Trump administration. Congressman Cicilline highlighted that Congress is working on behalf of the American people who have a right to know the truth and see that no one is above the law. Below are excerpts from the interview. Click here to watch the video
"First of all, Congress cannot allow the President to prevent us from conducting oversight. There are three things Congress can do if witnesses refuse to comply with the lawfully issued subpeona. One is refer to the Department of Justice for prosecution because that's a crime. We don't have a lot confidence Mr. Barr will do that. The second is start a civil proceeding and get a citation from the court that would judge that person in contempt. And there's a third method we can do right away. Since 1821, the Supreme Court recognized the inherent right of Congress to hold individuals in contempt and to imprison them. That was reaffirmed in the case in 1935. Congress has the responsibility and the obligation to hold individuals in contempt who do not comply with a lawful subpoena and do not produce documents and we ought to be prepared to imprison them."
"It's less about showing the President is below us and more about showing the person at the top is the American people. We are doing this on behalf of the American people who have a right to know the truth and see no one is above the law. We are going to get the witnesses and the testimony under oath and the documents we need to do this work. We have three ways to do it as well as the great suggestion of the power of the purse. We will use all the tools at our disposal and the American people will hear the full story and see the Mueller Report come to life before their eyes in the hearings so they can get a sense of what the President really did."