The D.C. Council passed emergency legislation yesterday which would allow it to take Sulaimon Brown and Cherita Whiting to court in order enforce subpoenas to compel their testimony — and the strategy might actually work.

Mike DeBonis reports that Brown wouldn’t rule out obeying a court order despite a belief that Councilmember Mary Cheh, who chairs the Council’s government operations committee and has convened four hearings to probe the hiring of the Gray administration, is part of a larger coverup by the Mayor; Whiting, meanwhile, told DeBonis she’ll testify if ordered by a judge:

“If she can lie about something as simple as issuing me a subpoena, it’s obvious she can’t be trusted,” Brown said. “I believe she’s trying to help Vincent Gray cover it up.”

Brown declined to say whether he would obey a court order, but Whiting said that if a judge orders her to testify, she will. “I still don’t have any answers for them,” she said. “I didn’t work in HR. I got my job the right way: I filled out an application, I had an interview and I got hired.”

During the Council’s discussion of the bill yesterday, Cheh told Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells that if a court upheld the subpoenas and individuals did not appear, they could be held in contempt of court. According to the D.C. Code, contempt of court in is punishable by a $1,000 fine and up to 180 days in jail.