# Barr and Criminal Contempt Post-Trump

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-and-criminal-contempt-post-trump/836961>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 12, 2019, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-and-criminal-contempt-post-trump/836961 "2019-07-12T11:24:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-and-criminal-contempt-post-trump/836961/1 "2019-07-12T11:24:53Z")

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Congress is going to be voting on criminal contempt charges for Barr. From what I’ve read, there’s little danger of him going to prison because the Justice Department (obviously) won’t do anything about it while under Barr.

Could a future Justice Dept, say in 2021, pursue the matter against Barr (and Wilbur Ross also facing possible criminal contempt charges)?

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**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-and-criminal-contempt-post-trump/836961/2 "2019-07-12T11:45:51Z")

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No. Federal statute of limitations for contempt is just 1 year.

> **[18 U.S. Code § 3285 - Criminal contempt](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/3285)**

ETA: Unless Congressional contempt is different, which it very well may be. I don’t know. But even then, it’s still up to the Executive Branch to enforce it. Good luck with that.

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**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-and-criminal-contempt-post-trump/836961/3 "2019-07-12T12:20:31Z")

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> [@DCnDC](#):
>
> No. Federal statute of limitations for contempt is just 1 year.
> 
> [18 U.S. Code § 3285 - Criminal contempt | U.S. Code | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/3285)
> 
> ETA: Unless Congressional contempt is different, which it very well may be. I don’t know. But even then, it’s still up to the Executive Branch to enforce it. Good luck with that.

Interesting. Could an argument be made that he is continuous contempt until (if Trump were to lose) that a new president is sworn in? I.e. the one year would start at that point.

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**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-and-criminal-contempt-post-trump/836961/4 "2019-07-12T12:21:44Z")

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That link was very useful. I found this.

> **[2 U.S. Code § 192 - Refusal of witness to testify or produce papers](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/2/192)**

It doesn’t say anything about a statue of limitations. I’m not saying there isn’t one. Maybe the rules for regular contempt also apply. I don’t know. Hence the question. 😉