When the House Oversight Committee began its hearings into the Flint water tragedy today, chairman Jason Chaffetz was very angry when the city’s former emergency manager, Darnell Earley, wasn’t on hand to testify. Chaffetz was angry enough at Earley, in fact, to threaten to “hunt him down” in order to serve him with a subpoena. But late this afternoon, Earley’s lawyer indicated that wouldn’t be necessary, and that his client would indeed accept a subpoena.
When the hearing began, a visibly angry Chaffetz told a packed hearing room that the committee had sent Earley an invitation to take part in the hearing. However, Earley told committee staff on Monday night that he was not coming. In response, Chaffetz issued a subpoena–only to have Earley’s lawyer turn it down. Chaffetz was not amused. He told the audience that he was issuing Earley a fresh subpoena–and was also asking U. S. Marshals to “hunt him down” if necessary to ensure that he gets it.
In response, Earley’s lawyer, A. Scott Bolden, told CNN that it “borders on nonsensical” for a congressional committee to issue a subpoena to appear before it on less than 24 hours’ notice. Bolden added that there was no way Earley could make it to Washington by Wednesday morning in any event. However, he did indicate that his client would be willing to appear “if he had more time to prepare” and was given “a reasonable date” to appear. Later on Wednesday, Bolden told the Detroit Free Press that Earley would “accept service of a subpoena” if it wasn’t issued on such short notice. Chaffetz did indicate that he intended for Earley to give a deposition later in February.
Legal expert Charlie Langton thinks Earley was playing with fire by forcing Chaffetz to hunt him down. Langton told Newsradio 950 WWJ in Detroit that if he were in Bolden’s shoes, he would have told Earley to “get your you know what down to that congressional testimony” and tell the truth about what he knows. Refusing a congressional subpoena carries up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine.
There’s a chance, though, that Earley may only appear long enough to plead the Fifth. After all, the Flint water crisis is now the subject of a federal criminal investigation. Indeed, federal officials publicly revealed that the investigation had expanded to a criminal phase just 24 hours before Earley told Chaffetz he wasn’t coming. So when Earley finally does come to Washington, it will be mighty interesting to see how long he’s in the witness chair.
