Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), the chairman of the House committee probing the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, gave Steve Bannon an ultimatum Tuesday night.
“Mr. Bannon will comply with our investigation,” he said, “or he will face the consequences.”
Minutes later, the committee unanimously voted to hold Bannon in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena which required him to provide testimony and evidence related to his role in the planning and execution of the Capitol riot.
“If there’s no accountability for these abuses — if there are different sets of rules for different types of people — then our democracy is in serious trouble.” Thompson added.
The referral to hold Bannon in contempt now goes before the entire House body. A vote is scheduled for Thursday. If it’s approved, as expected, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia will decide if it should press charges. Contempt of Congress can result in up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
But legal proceedings can delay the investigation past the 2022 midterms. If Republicans take back the House next year, they can shut down the inquiry.
At a hearing before the committee vote, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) explained why investigators want to speak with Bannon: “Based on the committee’s investigation, it appears that Mr. Bannon had substantial advanced knowledge of the plans for January 6th and likely had an important role in formulating those plans.”
She highlighted comments Bannon made on his radio show the day before the attack. He said “all hell is going to break loose tomorrow,” and “so many people have said, ‘Man, if I was in a revolution, I would be in Washington.’ Well, this is your time in history.”
Cheney also pointed out that Bannon was in a “war room” with other associates of then-President Donald Trump during the January 6th attack. According to a report the committee released Monday, Bannon was in frequent contact with Trump in the weeks following the 2020 election; Bannon told him that the effort to overthrow the election should focus on January 6th.
Bannon has invoked executive privilege in defying the Congressional subpoena. Trump has filed a lawsuit seeking to block testimony and evidence retrieval on the same grounds. Many legal experts think it’s a dubious claim – Bannon wasn’t a government employee at the time in question and past administrations don’t get to dictate what content is subject to executive privilege (that’s the responsibility of the current administration). Congress’s oversight role also may give it the ability to override claims of executive privilege in certain instances.
Cheney said Bannon and Trump’s defense is telling. “Mr. Bannon’s and Mr. Trump’s privilege arguments do […] appear to reveal one thing: They suggest that President Trump was personally involved in the planning and execution of January 6th, and this committee will get to the bottom of that.”
Cheney made a direct appeal to her Republican colleagues, saying “Almost all of you know in your hearts that what happened on Jan. 6 was profoundly wrong. You know that there is no evidence of widespread election fraud sufficient to overturn the election; you know that the Dominion voting machines were not corrupted by a foreign power. You know those claims are false.”
She continued:
You know these claims are false. Yet, former President, Trump, repeats them almost daily. And he is now urged Republicans not to vote in 2022 and 2024. This is a prescription for national self-destruction. I ask my colleagues, please consider the fundamental questions of right and wrong here. The American people must know what happened, they must know the truth. All of us who are elected officials must do our duty to prevent the dismantling of the rule of law and to ensure that nothing like that dark day in January ever happens again.
