The Leadership Conference Opposes House Resolution to Arrest Attorney General Garland

View a PDF of the letter here.

June 28, 2024

Dear Representative:

On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 national organizations to promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States, we strongly urge you to oppose H. Res. 1205. This resolution would, among other things, direct the Sergeant at Arms to arrest Attorney General Garland, and it would direct that Attorney General Garland be held “in custody to await the further order” of the House. The Leadership Conference will score any vote on or related to the disposition of this resolution.

As we noted several weeks ago, when the House of Representatives last voted to hold Attorney General Garland in contempt of Congress, House Republicans are attempting to blame Attorney General Garland for the failure of their impeachment investigation into President Biden by bringing baseless and politically motivated contempt proceedings to the floor.

This current resolution, H. Res. 1205, is even more unprecedented and reckless. The House has not held an individual in inherent contempt in nearly a century. There are no clear procedures in place governing where, how, and for how long Attorney General Garland could be held, or how his constitutional rights would be protected. Allowing a razor-thin majority of the House to wield such sweeping power with no clear constraints, and on such a flimsy justification, is nothing short of terrifying.

The Attorney General and the Department of Justice have worked with the House Judiciary and Oversight and Accountability Committees to provide them with the various information requested regarding President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur. This cooperation includes providing more than 92,000 pages of documents, more than two dozen transcribed interviews of current employees of the Department of Justice, and a 250-page certified transcript of President Biden’s voluntary, two-day interview with Special Counsel Hur, as sought in the committee subpoenas.

The harsh attacks and political gamesmanship are intended to divert the attention of the Attorney General from his responsibilities in enforcing national laws, including those protecting civil rights and voting rights. This is deeply troubling and particularly disturbing considering the upstanding job Attorney General Garland has done in enforcing the nation’s laws. We urge you to reject this resolution.

Sincerely,

Jesselyn McCurdy
Executive Vice President of Government Affairs