U.S. House committee backs contempt charge against Trump aide Bannon

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (Reuters) – A U.S. Congressional committee investigating the fatal January 6 attack on the Capitol unanimously voted on Tuesday for the disregard charge of Steve Bannon, a longtime associate of former President Donald Trump , agreed.

The seven Democratic and two Republican members of the House Special Committee approved a report recommending the criminal charges 9-0 and called it “shocking” that Bannon refused to comply with subpoenas for documents and testimony.

Adoption of the report paved the way for the entire House to vote on whether to recommend a disregard charge. That vote is scheduled for Thursday, when the entire Democratic-controlled chamber is expected to approve the report.

A spokesman for the District of Columbia District Attorney’s Office said prosecutors would “consider the matter based on fact and law” if the entire House approves the recommendation.

“It’s a shame Mr. Bannon put us in this position. But we will not take a ‘no’ for an answer,” said Bennie Thompson, chairman of the panel, in his opening address.

Bannon’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday evening.

Before leaving office in January, Trump pardoned Bannon on charges of cheating on the Republican president’s supporters. Trump has urged former aides summoned by the panel to deny his motions and called for executive privilege.

Bannon has stated through his attorney that he will not work with the committee until Trump’s claim to executive privileges is resolved by a court of law or through a settlement agreement.

Speaking at Tuesday’s session, Republican MP Liz Cheney, vice chairwoman of the special committee, said, “However, Mr. Bannon’s and Mr. Trump’s arguments seem to reveal one thing. January. And we’ll get to the bottom of that. “

Thompson said Bannon was “alone” among those summoned for his refusal to cooperate.

More than 670 people were charged with participating in the riot, the worst attack on the US government since the War of 1812. The special committee issued 19 subpoenas.

“It’s shocking to me that no one would do anything in their power to help our investigation,” Thompson said.

“ALL HELL WILL DELETE”

In its report, the committee argued that on January 6, when Congress was due to confirm Democrat Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election, Bannon made statements suggesting that he knew about “extreme events” in advance.

Bannon said on a January 5 podcast that “all hell will break loose tomorrow”. The next day, thousands of Trump supporters came to the Capitol.

Four people died on the day of the attack and a Capitol police officer died the next day from injuries sustained while defending the seat of Congress. Hundreds of police officers have been injured and four have now committed suicide.

Trump filed a lawsuit on Monday, claiming the committee made an illegal, unsubstantiated, and overly broad request about his White House records, which committee chairs rejected. Continue reading .

The US Supreme Court declared in 1821 that Congress had “inherent powers” to arrest and imprison unruly Witnesses itself without the help of the Department of Justice. But she hasn’t used that authority in nearly a century.

In 1927, the Supreme Court said the Senate acted lawfully when it sent its deputy armorer to Ohio to arrest and imprison the then attorney general’s brother who refused to testify about a bribery scheme known as the Teapot Dome scandal .

It wasn’t immediately clear how the Justice Department would respond to a House recommendation – there were few allegations of disregard for Congress – but some House members argued that ignoring the subpoenas would weaken Congressional oversight of the executive branch .

“Nobody in the United States has the right to call off a subpoena by a court or the US Congress,” Democrat Jamie Raskin told reporters after the meeting.

The special committee was set up by the Democrats in the House of Representatives against the will of most Republicans. Two of the nine members of the committee – Cheney and MP Adam Kinzinger – are Republicans who voted with the Democrats in the House of Representatives in January for impeachment against Trump for giving a fiery speech earlier in the day to supporters of the April 6 attack January instigated.

Several courts, state election officials and members of Trump’s own government have rejected Trump’s claims that Biden won on electoral fraud.

Reporting by Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Additional coverage from Jan Wolfe and Dan Whitcomb; Adaptation by Peter Cooney

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