The fictional Dr. Ishiro Serizawa in Godzilla King of the Monsters left a Senate hearing to respond to an emergency before the hearing was adjourned or he was excused. Could he be held in Contempt of Congress? The answer requires a little civics lesson.
Congress has the power to investigate matters related to contemplated legislation. As one Court explained, “Without the power to investigate — including of course the authority to compel testimony, either through its own processes or through judicial trial — Congress could be seriously handicapped in its efforts to exercise its constitutional function wisely and effectively.” Quinn v. United States, 349 U.S. 155, 160-61 (1955).
It should go without saying that Congress would want to legislate matters pertaining to 300 foot Kaiju with radioactive fire beams. Provided that San Francisco and Las Vegas were abandoned or condemned after Godzilla 2014, the United States Government would make legislation over Titans a high priority. Moreover, funding for Monarch has to come in significant part from the US Government; so conducting a hearing into Monarch’s actions is well within Congress’s right. The only limits on this power are the prohibition from inquiring into irrelevant private affairs, cross into law enforcement, or violate the Bill of Rights. Id.
Anyone who has been called to testify before Congress who refuses to answer any question shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. The punishment is a fine between $100 to $1,000 and at least one month in common jail. 2 U.S.C.S. § 192.
In the event someone refuses to testify, Congress has three options:
1) Referral to the U.S. Attorney for prosecution of a criminal contempt of Congress charge;
2) Detention and prosecution pursuant to Congress’s inherent contempt authority; or
(3) A civil action to enforce the subpoena in a federal district court.
Comm. on the Judiciary v. Miers, 558 F. Supp. 2d 53, 75-76 (D.D.C. 2008), citing Prosecution for Contempt of Congress of an Executive Branch Official Who Has Asserted a Claim of Executive Privilege, 8 U.S. Op. Off. Legal Counsel 101, 137 (1984).
Given Dr. Ishiro Serizawa’s position in Monarch, we can extrapolate that Monarch is an extension of the Executive Branch. While the exact structure of Monarch is unknown, the fact Monarch is run by U.S. military personnel aboard the massive U.S.S. Argo, it is clear there are significant ties to the US Military. Moreover, the point of the Senate hearings were whether Monarch should be placed under military control, which makes Monarch sound like NASA, but focused on Titans instead of space flight.
Dr. Serizawa could argue the information on the location of the Titans across the planet was privileged, due to the risk to human life for interacting with the creatures. [Think how dangerous it would be if a person was wrestling with an alligator while keeping a bear cub away from its mother with rods of plutonium, and the scale of “dangerous” should be comparable to a Titan.] While this could be a form of Executive Privilege, Congress has options for acquiring the information. Referring the matter to the DOJ could get ugly fast, so the more diplomatic approach would be a civil action to enforce a subpoena in Federal Court to disclose the location to the Titans. This would give a Court the opportunity to evaluate the claim of privilege and make a ruling on its validity.
The issue of Dr. Serizawa just leaving a hearing is problematic. While there was an emergency, not saying anything is extremely bad form. Congress is the one with the checkbook for giant airplanes and secret bases. They have every right in a republic to know what is going on. Arresting Dr. Serizawa would only make the situation worse, but the Chairman of the Senate Committee would be within their right to order the Senate Sargent at Arms to drag Dr. Serizawa to the committee hearing.
