Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) said House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has the legal authority to prosecute Attorney General Merrick Garland without the Justice Department's help or a vote from Congress.
After House Republicans voted to hold Garland in contempt on Wednesday, Biggs appeared to be in a celebratory mood but worried that the Justice Department might not act on the contempt vote.
The Arizona lawmaker expressed "a great deal of skepticism" about Garland's claim that special counsel David Weiss had complete independence to charge the attorney general.
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"So the proof will be in the pudding," Biggs asserted. "Does he actually send this over to Weiss and say, it's up to you?"
"And will Weiss have the spine, let's put it that way, to actually engage in a prosecution?" he continued.
Biggs said his skepticism about Weiss led him to pursue a "civil prosecution" of Garland.
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"My position is that the speaker has the authority without Congress, without even taking a vote, to appoint a special house counsel to actually engage in kind of a civil prosecution, if you will, of this contempt citation," he explained.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) also suggested a novel way to deal with contempt of Congress. She told Fox News that she was prepared to force a vote on Garland's arrest.
If her legislation is enacted, it would require the House sergeant at arms to arrest Garland.
The attorney general was found in contempt because he refused to turn over audio recordings of President Joe Biden. The White House claimed the audio recordings were privileged information.