· Daugherty, 273 U.S. 135 (1927), United States Supreme Court, case facts, key issues, and holdings and reasonings online today. Written and curated by real attorneys at Quimbee. ... Senate Committee (Committee) undertook an investigation into the activities of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Attorney General (AG) in order to determine ...
McGrain v. Daugherty. No. 28. Argued December 5, 1924. Decided January 17, 1927. 273 U.S. 135. Syllabus. 1. Deputies, with authority to execute warrants, may be appointed by the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate, under a standing order of the Senate, such appointments being sanctioned by practice and by acts of Congress fixing the compensation of ...
Harry Micajah Daugherty (/ ˈ d oʊ. ər t i /; January 26, 1860 – October 12, 1941) was an American politician.A key Ohio Republican political insider, he is best remembered for his service as Attorney General of the United States under Presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge, as well as for his involvement in the Teapot Dome scandal during Harding's presidency.
A landmark decision of the Supreme Court, McGrain v.Daugherty, 273 U.S. 135, 47 S.Ct. 319, 71 L.Ed. 580 (1927), recognized the implicit power of either House of Congress to hold a witness in a congressional investigation in CONTEMPT for a refusal to honor its summons or to respond to its questions.. During the mid-1920s, there were numerous allegations that the U.S. JUSTICE …
In 1926, Daugherty was indicted on charges that he improperly received funds in the sale of American Metal Company assets seized during World War I. The indictment came down one year after Smith, Republican political boss John T. King of Connecticut, and former Alien Property Custodian Thomas W. Miller were charged with the same misconduct. Daugherty's case went to trial twice, with the first jury deadlocking with 7-5 in favor of conviction. He was acquitted after a single juror remained unconvinced of his guilt in the second trial.
Early years. Harry M. Daugherty was born on January 26, 1860 in the small town of Washington Court House, Ohio. Daugherty's father, John H. Daugherty, was the Pennsylvania -born son of Irish immigrants and worked as a farmer and tailor. His mother, Jane Draper Daugherty, was from a prominent Ohio family with Virginia roots dating back to ...
Attorney General of the United States. Following the resounding Republican victory in the fall of 1920, Daugherty was named Attorney General of the United States by President-elect Harding. Daugherty was confirmed by the Senate and assumed office on March 4, 1921.
Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty in his office. Having achieved power, Harding gathered around him a group of political cronies, including factional friends from the Ohio Republican establishment like Daugherty and others of like mind from other states, a group known colloquially as the "Ohio Gang.".
When members of Congress began to observe that Daugherty was not aggressively pursuing investigations into alleged government corruption, the attention became focused on Daugherty himself. Allegations were made that Daugherty was involved with bootleggers. The allegations were given credence in 1930 when Gaston B. Means, an ex-convict employed by the FBI, testified before a Senate investigative committee that Jesse Smith had charged him with collecting Federal protection money from bootleggers. Means said he would rent two hotel rooms in New York and place a fishbowl on a table in one room. Bootleggers came, by appointment, and dropped their payments in the bowl. Means said he then turned the money over to Smith. Means estimated he collected close to $7 million in graft. However, because Smith was dead, and Daugherty could not be directly connected to the payoffs, Daugherty was never indicted.
Daugherty's Washington, D.C. housemate and personal assistant, Jesse Smith, committed suicide and Daugherty's brother was sent to prison.
In 1921, American Metal Co. representative Richard Merton made a claim against the U.S. government for $6 million. The money represented stock sale proceeds appropriated by Alien Property Custodian Thomas W. Miller as part of the World War I seizure of German holdings in American companies . Merton was directed to pay $441,000 in Liberty bonds for the "services" of Miller and Jesse Smith. They, in turn, would ensure his claim's approval. At Miller and Daugherty's 1927 bribery trial, it was revealed that Smith received $200,000 in bonds. Another $40,000 in bond proceeds was deposited by Daugherty's brother, Mal, into Harry Daugherty's bank account. Smith committed suicide in 1923 and was never tried. Miller was convicted of defrauding the government and Mal Daugherty later was sentenced to prison for bank fraud. Daugherty's case was dismissed for lack of evidence.