January 6th Committee Announces Plan to Charge Steve Bannon With Criminal Contempt
The January 6th House Committee has announced they will move to hold Steve Bannon in criminal contempt of Congress for defying their subpoena related to the investigation of the storming of the U.S. Capitol.
Bannon is one of several major allies to former President Donald Trump who was recently served with a subpoena ordering him to provide documents and a private deposition to the committee. Bannon’s lawyer made questionable claims of executive privilege as he said his client would not comply, and on Thursday, Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) announced the pursuit of criminal contempt against Bannon.
Mr. Bannon has declined to cooperate with the Select Committee and is instead hiding behind the former President’s insufficient, blanket, and vague statements regarding privileges he has purported to invoke. We reject his position entirely. The Select Committee will not tolerate defiance of our subpoenas, so we must move forward with proceedings to refer Mr. Bannon for criminal contempt. I’ve notified the Select Committee that we will convene for a business meeting Tuesday evening to vote on adopting a contempt report.
Bannon’s non-compliance with the committee comes after recent reporting indicated he and several other Trump allies were preparing to defy subpoenas on the orders of Trump. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), a member of the January 6th committee, has warned of Bannon’s legal exposure and poked holes in his claim to executive privilege.
Aside from Bannon, the committee has also subpoenaed former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, and Defense Department aide Kash Patel. A committee aide provided reporters with an update of where they stand.
The Jan. 6 committee “has agreed to short postponements of Mr. Patel’s and Mr. Meadows’s appearances as they continue to engage with our investigation,” per a committee aide. Scavino’s deposition has been delayed given his subpoena was served later.
— Katherine Faulders (@KFaulders) October 14, 2021
Watch above, via CNN.
