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To: Cboldt

where in the constitution does it state that congress has the right to summon any citizen?


33 posted on 11/12/2021 3:40:52 PM PST by TexasFreeper2009
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To: TexasFreeper2009
-- where in the constitution does it state that congress has the right to summon any citizen? --

It's an inherent power.

Different example, the only mention of "arrest" is that Congress is immune to it during session. But the executive can arrest a member of the public on criminal charges.

36 posted on 11/12/2021 3:44:36 PM PST by Cboldt
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To: TexasFreeper2009
where in the constitution does it state that congress has the right to summon any citizen?

There is no explicit wording to that effect in the Constitution but the Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld the right of Congress to conduct investigations and enforce subpoenas. There are some criminal laws that specify the penalties and procedure if someone does not comply with a Congressional subpoena:

2 U.S.C. § 192

"Every person who having been summoned as a witness by the authority of either House of Congress to give testimony or to produce papers upon any matter under inquiry before either House, or any joint committee established by a joint or concurrent resolution of the two Houses of Congress, or any committee of either House of Congress, willfully makes default, or who, having appeared, refuses to answer any question pertinent to the question under inquiry, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than [$100,000] nor less than $100 and imprisonment in a common jail for not less than one month nor more than twelve months."

2 U.S.C. § 194

"Whenever a witness summoned as mentioned in section 192 of this title fails to appear to testify or fails to produce any books, papers, records, or documents, as required, or whenever any witness so summoned refuses to answer any question pertinent to the subject under inquiry before either House, or any joint committee established by a joint or concurrent resolution of the two Houses of Congress, or any committee or subcommittee of either House of Congress, and the fact of such failure or failures is reported to either House while Congress is in session or when Congress is not in session, a statement of fact constituting such failure is reported to and filed with the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House, it shall be the duty of the said President of the Senate or Speaker of the House, as the case may be, to certify, and he shall so certify, the statement of facts aforesaid under the seal of the Senate or House, as the case may be, to the appropriate United States attorney, whose duty it shall be to bring the matter before the grand jury for its action."

The whole history of this, including the relevant Supreme Court rulings, and other ways Congress can enforce subpoenas is discussed here:

Congress’s Contempt Power and the Enforcement of Congressional Subpoenas: Law, History, Practice, and Procedure

64 posted on 11/12/2021 5:30:31 PM PST by wideminded
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