Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) spoke to MSNBC on Tuesday just after the start of the congressional debate over whether to hold former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows in criminal contempt of Congress.
Meadows is in this position because he abruptly decided to stop cooperating with the committee by citing concerns over executive privilege, even though he admitted that none of the documents he turned over are barred through executive privilege.
As Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) explained, the request from the committee is simply to ask questions about those documents.
Lieu said that since the 2022 midterm election will come so quickly that the House should act and put Meadows, along with Steve Bannon, in confinement.
"I am absolutely concerned," said Lieu. "Which is why I have legislation that will allow the House of Representatives to execute inherent contempt power. It's a power the Supreme Court has upheld. We can use it to find witnesses or put them in confinement. It's time we use that because right now, the trial for Steve Bannon for example was not set until August. For Mark Meadows, probably further. And when he can delay enforcement subpoenas that long and — it renders them meaningless. I highly urge the House legal counsel to reverse course because their strategy has not worked. Congressional subpoenas have been rendered largely meaningless."
The last time an official was put in confinement, they weren't put in the small jail cell in the basement of the U.S. Capitol. They were put in a nice hotel room at the Willard, in Washington, D.C.
See the full discussion below:
Ted Lieu: Put them in confinement.www.youtube.com
