Trump aide Steve Bannon faces U.S. House committee contempt vote
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[October 19, 2021]
By Patricia Zengerle and Jan Wolfe
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers probing
the deadly Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack by supporters of Donald Trump will
move on Tuesday toward bringing contempt of Congress charges against his
longtime aide Steve Bannon over his refusal to cooperate.
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives Select Committee is
expected to approve a report backing contempt charges against Bannon at
a meeting Tuesday evening. That vote will pave the way for the entire
House to vote on whether to recommend contempt charges, which could lead
to criminal prosecution, against Bannon.
The report, which was made public by the committee Monday evening,
argues that Bannon's testimony and document production are crucial to
the investigation, saying that Bannon made statements suggesting he knew
ahead of time about "extreme events" on Jan. 6, when the U.S. Congress
was scheduled to certify Democrat Joe Biden as the winner of the
presidential election.
Bannon, according to the report, said, "All hell is going to break loose
tomorrow," the day before thousands of Trump supporters descended on the
Capitol building, attacking police and raiding congressional offices, in
an attempt to overturn Trump's election defeat, which Trump falsely
claimed was the result of widespread fraud.
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Trump has urged his allies to reject the committee's subpoenas, claiming
executive privilege. He filed a lawsuit on Monday, alleging the
committee made an illegal, unfounded and overly broad request for his
White House records.
Many legal experts have said Trump, as the former president, cannot
lawfully use executive privilege to block subpoenas issued by the House
committee.
The Select Committee's nine members will take the preliminary step of
voting on the contempt report in a public meeting scheduled for 7:30
p.m. EDT (2330 GMT) on Tuesday. The committee's vote could be followed
quickly by a full vote in the House, congressional aides said.
Bannon has refused to cooperate with the committee, which was created by
House Democrats against the wishes of most Republicans. Just two of the
committee's nine members,- Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger,
are Trump's fellow Republicans.
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![](../images/101921pix/news_b3.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
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Both have criticized the former president, which
prompted Republican House members to remove Cheney, daughter of
former Vice President Dick Cheney, from her leadership position.
After Trump asked aides not to cooperate with the investigation,
Bannon argued that he was shielded from the select committee's
subpoenas by executive privilege, a legal principle that protects
many White House communications.
However, legal experts - and the committee - dispute that argument.
"Mr. Bannon has now willfully failed to both produce a single
document and to appear for his scheduled deposition. The Select
Committee believes that this willful refusal to comply with the
Subpoena constitutes a violation of federal law," the committee's
chairman, Bennie Thompson, said in a letter to Bannon's attorney.
Bannon's attorney, Robert Costello, did not respond to a request for
comment on the letter.
Biden has also said the Justice Department should prosecute people
who defy subpoenas.
There have been at least 600 arrests in connection with the assault,
and the select committee has issued more than a dozen subpoenas.
Multiple courts, state election officials and members of Trump's own
administration have rejected Trump's claims of election fraud as
false.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Additional reporting
by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Scott Malone, Matthew Lewis and Leslie
Adler)
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