McGhan Subpoena Unenforceable

The White House has indicated it will oppose enforcement of the subpoena.

So what happens if the White House refuses to produce McGahn or he himself decides to disobey the subpoena and refuses to appear?  Nothing.

The fact is Congressional subpoenas are, almost, completely toothless. Former Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt of Congress for failing to provide documents relating to the Fast and Furious Operation and was subject to no recriminations. Why? Because both he and President Obama knew that if someone defies a Congressional subpoena nothing can be done about it by Congress. Congress has no jail. The only way anyone is going to jail is if the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia decides to prosecute. The US Attorney for DC declined to prosecute in the Holder case and would most probably decline to do so in this case.

In fact, no one has been involuntarily confined for contempt of Congress since 1934 when President Hoover’s Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics, William P. MacCracken, Jr., was “jailed” at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. because the Senate Sargeant at Arms Chesley W. Jurney didn’t know where else to put him. Actually, MacCracken originally showed up at Jurney’s home and said, essentially, “Where do I go?”  MacCracken spent the night at Jurney’s home who told him to go to the Willard Hotel the next day. MacCracken was quickly released because Congress didn’t want to pay for his hotel bills.