Ranking Member Cole Hearing Remarks on H. Res. ___ (H. Rept. 117-284)

Hearing

As delivered during today's hearing:

Our hearing today covers another resolution from the Majority's partisan investigation into the events of January 6th, holding two more individuals in contempt of Congress.

Unfortunately, the Majority's Select Committee investigation has been tainted from the beginning by political considerations. Speaker Pelosi ensured that was the case the moment she chose, unilaterally, to refuse to seat Leader McCarthy's choices of Republican members to sit on the Select Committee.

Today, we are once again seeing the results of that inherently political investigation. Rather than allowing Republicans an honest opportunity to work through these issues in a bipartisan way, Speaker Pelosi instead determined that she needed to do everything in her power to ensure she got the political result she wanted, even when her actions went against the longstanding traditions and norms of the House.

The two individuals who are the subject of today's criminal contempt referral were both high-ranking officials in the Trump White House. As the committee is well aware, President Trump has repeatedly asserted questions of executive privilege. My understanding is that both of these individuals have complied with President Trump's request and have themselves asserted executive privilege in response to the Select Committee's wide-ranging subpoenas, as they should have. Indeed, both of these individuals have a legal duty to do so.

Nonetheless, the Select Committee is now seeking to refer these two individuals for prosecution for criminal contempt. I would remind the committee that criminal contempt is inherently punitive. It does not force production of documents or compel absent testimony. Rather, it merely seeks to publicly punish and shame an individual for non-compliance.

The two individuals at issue have presented legitimate concerns about the scope of subpoenas issued to them and have raised legitimate concerns surrounding executive privilege. These concerns are for the courts to decide, not the House.

The more the Select Committee seeks to abuse its subpoena authority, the more the House's authority will be weakened in the long run. We would be better served to protect the House's subpoena power by doling them out judiciously, in a fair and constitutional way. And we would be much better served not to make punitive criminal contempt referrals for individuals who are adhering to the former president's wishes concerning executive privilege, at least until the courts have made a final decision with respect to the scope of executive privilege.

Unfortunately, I fear the Majority will continue to erode the legal standing and credibility of the institution with the partisan manner in which they use the subpoena authority of the House.

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