Bannon facing threat of criminal contempt
WASHINGTON — The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol announced on Thursday it will move to hold Stephen Bannon in criminal contempt for not complying with its subpoena as it seeks to force former Trump administration officials to cooperate with its inquiry.
Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the panel will meet Tuesday when the House returns to Washington to vote to adopt a contempt report.
“The Select Committee will use every tool at its disposal to get the information it seeks, and witnesses who try to stonewall the Select Committee will not succeed,” Thompson said in a statement.
The panel has opted to give other former Trump officials more time to comply with its subpoenas.
Mark Meadows and Kash Patel were both scheduled to appear before the committee by the end of this week for closed-door interviews and are now expected to be provided an extension or continuance, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the decision has not been announced.
Meadows served as Trump’s chief of staff at the end of his administration, and Patel served as chief of staff to then-acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller on Jan. 6.
Because the delivery of former Trump deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino’s subpoena was delayed, the committee has postponed his scheduled deposition this week, according to a select committee aide.
The committee — seven Democrats and two Republicans, all appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. — was created earlier this year after Republicans in both chambers voted against creating an independent commission modeled on the one that investigated the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Former President Donald Trump has urged his allies and former aides not to cooperate with the panel. He continues to spread false claims about election fraud that served as the rallying cry for his supporters when they stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 in a violent bid to prevent lawmakers from certifying Electoral College results and declaring Joe Biden the next president.
Democrats and the panel’s Republicans have portrayed the attack on the Capitol as an attack on democracy and said that a failure to fully investigate the event could clear the way for future attempts to overturn legitimate election results, including through violence.
“We’re moving ahead quickly to get answers for the American people about what happened on January 6th and help secure the future of American democracy,” Thompson said in his statement Thursday.
Bannon, Meadows, Patel and Scavino are considered key witnesses by panel members as they investigate the Trump administration’s efforts to overturn election results and interfere with the transfer of power. The decision to give Meadows and Patel more time to comply with subpoenas sent out last month indicates at least a minimal level of cooperation between the committee and two of Trump’s former advisers.
The committee announced a subpoena Wednesday for another person it views as a key witness — former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, who sought to deploy department resources to support Trump’s false claims of massive voting fraud in the 2020 election.
Bannon was not part of the administration on Jan. 6. He left his job as a top White House adviser to Trump in 2017. Several legal experts questioned whether executive privilege could shield Bannon from responding to requests for information.
A successful contempt prosecution could lead to Bannon’s incarceration, a fine, or both. He could face up to $100,000 in fines and a one-year sentence in federal prison.