House GOP begins to see results from subpoenas and proposed contempt resolutions
Mabinty Quarshie
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House Republicans canceled on Wednesday a closely watched vote to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt after the bureau allowed Oversight Committee members to review a subpoenaed document tied to an investigation of President Joe Biden and his family.
Republicans, in the aftermath, boasted they had bent Wray to their will. “The FBI caved. Members of the Oversight Committee will now be allowed to review the record alleging a bribery scheme by VP Biden,” Chairman James Comer (R-KY) tweeted. “This record is still being used in an ongoing investigation. The FBI is ALSO making 2 docs referenced in the record available to me.”
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It was also the latest flex of the power GOP members gained over Washington officials and Democrats after flipping the House last year. Republicans and their allies are now crowing that their subpoena strategy proves to their supporters they are fulfilling campaign promises, all of which could bolster their party in next year’s elections.
“[Democrats] got to run amok under [then-House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi’s leadership because they knew they’d never be called out,” said Chris Grant, CEO of Big Dog Strategies and a national Republican consultant. “And now that you have adults in the room with House leadership, they’re scared, and they’re panicked, and so they have to comply.”
“That’s one of the big driving reasons why the Republicans flipped the House in 2022 was for this level of accountability,” he added.
Committee members viewed the FBI’s FD-1023 form, which they claimed shows evidence of Biden’s “criminal scheme,” Wednesday morning into the afternoon, while Comer and ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) viewed the documents and received an FBI briefing on allegations of wrongdoing on Biden’s part on Monday. Although, the two men differed on the results of the briefing.
“Given the severity and complexity of the allegations contained within this record, Congress must investigate further,” Comer said after the briefing. Raskin thought differently.
“FBI prosecutorial protocol is whether there are articulable facts giving rise to suspicion of criminal activity. So they apparently decided there was not, and they called an end to the investigation,” Raskin said. Similarly, the White House dismissed Comer’s claims as “yet another fact-free stunt.”
But the Biden investigation isn’t the only area in which Republicans are flexing their might.
Last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken nearly faced contempt charges for defying a congressional subpoena from the House Foreign Affairs Committee before he agreed to allow Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), chairman of the committee, and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the committee’s ranking member, review a classified cable from U.S. diplomats in Kabul sent before the chaotic U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan in 2021.
On Monday, Blinken bent even further to the GOP’s will when he agreed to let the entire Foreign Affairs Committee review the dissent cable, which avoids another contempt charge.
“This is an unprecedented step forward in our committee’s investigation into the Afghanistan withdrawal,” McCaul said in a statement on Monday. “For the first time in history, the State Department has agreed to allow Congress to view a dissent channel cable. This cable contains first-hand information from Embassy Kabul employees who were on the ground prior to the collapse as well as Secretary Blinken’s response to their concerns. I want to thank Secretary Blinken for negotiating with me in good faith on this.”
This week, House Republicans are targeting Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over failing to answer questions on the southern border crossing crisis, which could lead to contempt charges and even impeachment. The House Homeland Security Committee announced on Thursday a hearing for next Wednesday over Mayorkas’s “dereliction of duty.”
“We’re gearing up to hold Mayorkas accountable,” Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), chairman of the committee, told Fox News Digital. “That’s essentially what starts next Wednesday. And it’s going to be a process of basically investigating, looking at the facts of the decisions that have been made by this secretary, and how it’s impacted the American people.”
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A spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) told the Washington Examiner this week in an email: “All options are on the table.”
“I think if I was a Cabinet secretary who had as disastrous of a record as Mayorkas on the border, I’d be looking for the nearest unemployment line,” said Grant, the Republican consultant. “I think the House Republicans are very smart in using every tool in their arsenal to hold the administration accountable on that piece.”
“As House Republicans continue to show wins and continue to expose just the outright incompetence and, frankly, sabotage of a lot of the administration … I think it’s going to be a very helpful campaign issue,” he added. “When you fulfill the promises that you campaigned on, voters reward that.”