I am open to ideas. Please explain what you would do in Issa’s shoes.
Fair enough. Congressional rules empower all its standing committees with the authority to compel witnesses to produce testimony and documents for subjects under its jurisdiction. Committee rules may provide for the full Committee to issue a subpoena, or permit subcommittees or the Chairman (acting alone or with the ranking member) to issue subpoenas.
Under the principle of Inherent Contempt, the procedure for holding a person in contempt involves only the chamber concerned. Following a contempt citation, the person cited is arrested by the Sergeant-at-Arms for the House or Senate, brought to the floor of the chamber, held to answer charges by the presiding officer, and then subjected to punishment as the chamber may dictate (usually imprisonment for punishment reasons, imprisonment for coercive effect, or release from the contempt citation).
Four separate Supreme Court decisions have upheld the power of Congress to execute arrests in the case of Inherent Contempt. (Admittedly, the courts have characterized such an action as “unseemly”, but the power to do so remains.) While, unlike the President, I am not a Constitutional law professor (forgive my snarkiness; it is not directed at you), I would exercise that authority or at least appear to do so.
My initial step would be to leak a rumor that I was seriously considering the issuance of an arrest warrant for the attorney general attendant to the Contempt of Congress citation. Even a rumor of such action could not be ignored - even by the compliant media. The media would characterize it as a “Constitutional Crisis” and a “showdown” between the House and the administration. I would submit that, under the circumstances, that would not be a bad thing. It would force the administration to take a stand and marshall its forces, while the House (minus Boehner, Cantor and a few others) would do likewise.
After allowing the storm clouds to build for a few (two or three) days, I would call a press conference and cite, in general terms, the administration’s usurpations of its Constitutional authority, review the details of the attorney general’s contempt citation, conclude with a statement that leaves everyone with the distinct impression that I am very serious and withdraw without taking questions.
If I had not done so already, I would begin the process of preparing a warrant for the attorney general’s arrest and leak that fact as well. I would keep the administration and DOJ off balance by progressively leaking comments about the seriousness of such an action and reiterate that it is warranted, given the circumstances and progressively leak details already in the public domain.
Ultimately, if the administration and DOJ refused to comply with subpoenas and the attorney general refused to produce relevant documents, I would again call a press conference and announce that the warrant was being executed.
Is it an extreme measure? Absolutely! Is it warranted and necessary to check the administration’s abuses of power? Some would argue no, but I would vehemently disagree.