A few dozen issues into Iron Man’s original Tales of Suspense run, Senator Harrington Byrd (presumably R-NY, weird as that now sounds) made Tony Stark’s life a living hell. Byrd didn’t approve of Stark’s “playboy” lifestyle and was uncomfortable having so many defense contracts going to Stark Industries. His main threat to get what he wanted out of Stark was threatening him with contempt of Congress.
This, as it turns out, is a real thing, associated with Congress’s ability to compel people to appear before congressional committees and subcommittees to answer questions and provide documentation. The Supreme Court first recognized this as an inherent power of Congress in 1821 with Anderson v. Dunn, 19 U.S. 204 (1821). The common law form was replaced by statute in the middle of the nineteenth century, and the current statute is 2 U.S.C. § 192, which provides that a person who refuses to cooperate can be fined up to $1,000 and spend up to a year in jail.