Panel probing attack on U.S. Capitol threatens Bannon with contempt
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[October 15, 2021]
By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. congressional
committee probing the deadly Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol said on
Thursday it would vote next week to hold Steve Bannon, a longtime
adviser to former President Donald Trump, in contempt of Congress for
refusing to comply with a subpoena.
The House of Representatives Select Committee said it scheduled a vote
on Tuesday on a report documenting the case for contempt against Bannon,
a first step toward criminal charges.
"The Select Committee will not tolerate defiance of our subpoenas, so we
must move forward with proceedings to refer Mr. Bannon for criminal
contempt," the committee's Democratic chairman, Representative Bennie
Thompson, said in a statement.
The Democratic-led panel was formed to investigate the January attack on
the Capitol by Trump supporters as Trump sought to overturn the results
of the 2020 presidential election. Trump has falsely claimed his loss to
President Joe Biden was fraudulent.
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If the House committee approves the contempt case against Bannon, the
matter would go to a full House vote. The Justice Department would
ultimately decide whether to prosecute the Republican political
strategist.
An attorney for Bannon, who was asked to give a deposition on Thursday,
referred to a letter saying his client would not provide testimony or
documents until the committee reached an agreement with Trump over
executive privilege or a court ruled on the matter.
Trump had urged former aides to refuse to cooperate, citing executive
privilege. The Republican former president issued a statement on
Thursday repeating his false fraud allegations and saying his supporters
"are not going to stand for it."
Thompson dismissed the executive privilege argument. "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."
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![](../images/101521pics/news_I7.jpg)
Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon exits the Manhattan
Federal Court, following his arraignment hearing for conspiracy to
commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, in the
Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S. August 20, 2020.
REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
![](../images/ads/current/centraldirect_lda_SPONSOR_2021.png)
Hundreds of Trump supporters forced their way into
the seat of the U.S. government on Jan. 6, as Vice President Mike
Pence and lawmakers met to certify Democrat Joe Biden's victory in
the November 2020 presidential election.
The attack on the Capitol forced Pence, lawmakers, staff and
journalists to flee, and delayed certification of the election
result for several hours. Four people died that day, one shot to
death by police and the others of natural causes. More than 100
police officers were injured, one dying the next day. Four officers
later committed suicide.
The Bannon subpoena was one of more than a dozen issued by the
Select Committee, with some depositions originally scheduled as soon
as this week. But those have been delayed as some of those
subpoenaed have been negotiating with the panel.
A committee aide said two scheduled depositions - by Trump's former
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Kash Patel, a former
Defense Department official - were delayed for a short time because
they are continuing to engage with the panel.
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A deposition by Dan Scavino, former White House deputy chief of
staff for communications, was also put off because of delays in
delivering his subpoena. Patel had been due to give a deposition on
Thursday and Meadows and Scavino on Friday.
Anyone found guilty of contempt of Congress faces a fine and up to
12 months' in prison.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, additional reporting by Sarah N.
Lynch and Jan Wolfe; Editing by Chris Reese, Leslie Adler and
Cynthia Osterman)
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