Chutzpah is derived from the Hebrew word ḥuṣpāh (חֻצְפָּה), meaning “insolence”, “cheek” or “audacity”. Thus, the original Yiddish word has a strongly negative connotation.
On Thursday, Breitbart posted an article that brilliantly illustrates the concept of chutzpah.
The article reports:
Attorney General Merrick Garland said this week that he will defy subpoenas from Congressional Republicans that he does not agree with.
Garland’s statement came after Republican leaders in Congress threatened to hold him in contempt “in their efforts to gain access to audio recordings from special counsel Robert K. Hur’s investigation into President Biden’s handling of classified materials,” according to the Washington Post.
On June 6, The U.K. Daily Mail reported:
Former Donald Trump chief White House strategist Steve Bannon must report to prison to begin his four-month sentence for contempt of Congress under a new order from a federal judge Thursday.
The longtime Trump advisor has until July 1 to surrender himself to the authorities, under a ruling by Judge Carl Nichols.
Bannon was back at a D.C. courthouse Thursday where prosecutors urged the federal judge to send him to prison immediately.
…Bannon was previously sentenced in October 2022 to four months in prison after being convicted of Contempt of Congress for failing to provide information or testimony to the House January 6 Committee.
On October 21, 2022, Newsweek reported:
After former Trump administration official, Steve Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison and fined $6,500 in a Washington, D.C. courtroom, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder began trending on Twitter as users compared the outcomes of their two cases.
Bannon received his sentence on Friday after being found guilty in July on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena issued to him regarding the investigation into the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Holder, a Democrat who served in former President Barack Obama‘s administration, was held in contempt by the House in June 2012 “for failing to disclose internal Justice Department documents in response to a subpoena.” The White House and Justice Department did not attempt to criminally prosecute Holder after the contempt citation, CNN reported.
So I guess contempt of Congress is only a crime when Republicans do it.