Page 1024 - Contempt News Today

The intelligence committee. senator feinstein, what tools do you have to get to the bottom of this case? >> well, thats a good question. its really the subpoena, and i guess as chairman burr said, if that doesnt work, its holding the individual in contempt. now, i agree with what our chairman said, and i think thats a proper action to take. also on the judiciary committee, as you know, the subcommittee has held hearings, and sally yates came before it. at that point, i think i really realized th...

Where can he claim the fifth? where can they claim contempt? >> now, the fifth amendment generally can only be used as a protection against forced testimony. so he could sit in the witness chair and take the fifth. but generally documents are not protected by the fifth amendment. so congress may have a strong argument here. >> even if those documents can incriminate him. sometimes allows fifth amendment protection, but i think well see the courts ruling on this eventually. >> following up on wha...

Over any of the requested documents. should he be held in contempt for refusing to provide that coined of evidence, the documents in. >> thats a hard one for me to answer because i dont know exactly what the fifth amendment covers. ive heard when it comes to business-type issues the fifth amendment doesnt cover that but a lot of people have said hey, the fifth amendment is to defend someone against self-incrimination whether or not they believe they are guilty so its really hard to say whether t...

Immunity. so this going back and forth. hes definitely in very hot water. this is a very serious investigation. weve heard the word "treason" mentioned. whoever was collaborating with the russians is guilty of something like treason. so well find out whats going on. but hes just trying to cut as good a deal as he can for himself and right now hes going withhold the documents and well see where it goes from here. >> based on what you know, will flynn likely be charged by congress with contempt? >...

>> theyve narrowed that request. so theyre expecting the documents, or you heard what senator burr said. which is otherwise we could hold you in contempt. >> and gloria, in terms of the new subpoenas for documents relating to general flynns businesses, burr is saying everythings on the table. if flynn doesnt comply which was echoed by marco rubio earlier today, it seems the committee is willing to take serious action. and i think it is. i think theyre playing a little hardball here. i think flyn...

With contempt. what can they compel him to do with their actions? >> theres a few different things. theyve issued subpoenas to corporate entities that hes affiliated with because corporations dont have a fifth amendment privilege. right now courts can change that. theyve been giving more rights to corporations over time, the supreme court has. but they dont have a fifth amendment right. in addition, they could either -- they could -- the senate could give him i mmunity to the production of docum...

Well reserve the right to ask for more resources. >> do you think your committee is willing to put people in jail for not testify something are we really going to see contempt carried all the way to the point where somebody is either going to talk or theyre going to jail until they talk? >> theres a couple of mechanisms that the congress can use to get the documents michael flynn has said he will not provide. the house and the senate -- certainly the senate since thats what were talking about ri...

Rolling their eyes and saying is this guy really committed to this investigation, talking about richard burr is clearly committed now. standing side by side with the top democrat yesterday saying that it is possible that if michael flynn doesnt give the documents that they want, they will hold him in contempt of congress. thats pretty significant. >> even the subpoenas are embarrassing to the white house. if youre talking about contempt, thats a signal this was a very trusted adviser of the pres...

Cooperating with your committee either. hes not going to cooperate with the requests that your committee has made. honestly, congressman, what do you think you can do differently to get a response from michael flynn? >> the important thing for the overall investigation is we try to resist the temptation and particularly those of us who are on the investigatory committees to start saying where we think things are coming out. theres no evidence of this and there is evidence, we shoudnt really be t...

>> i dont know because from the moment this started and then he was surrounded by lawyers. the only thing weve talked about is that were both lucky men. he has a new grandson and we have a new granddaughter, and we were comparing notes on that. >> just in the interest of time, im going to move on and ask more questions. do you know how he is doing and whether he is getting help with his legal defense? have are you spoken to him? >> i havent spoken to him about that, but from other people my unde...