Jan. 6 panel votes to hold Steve Bannon in contempt

WASHINGTON — A House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection voted unanimously Tuesday to clasp erstwhile White House adjutant Steve Bannon successful contempt of Congress aft the longtime state of erstwhile President Donald Trump defied a subpoena for documents and testimony.

Still defending his supporters who broke into the Capitol that day, Trump has aggressively tried to artifact the committee’s enactment by directing Bannon and others not to reply questions successful the probe. Trump has besides filed a suit to effort to forestall Congress from obtaining erstwhile White House documents.

But lawmakers person made wide they volition not backmost down arsenic they stitchery facts and grounds astir the onslaught involving Trump’s supporters that near dozens of constabulary officers injured, sent lawmakers moving for their lives and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.

The committee’s chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said Tuesday that Bannon “stands unsocial successful his implicit defiance of our subpoena” and the sheet volition not instrumentality nary for an answer.

He said that portion Bannon whitethorn beryllium “willing to beryllium a martyr to the disgraceful origin of whitewashing what happened connected January 6th — of demonstrating his implicit loyalty to the erstwhile President,” the contempt ballot is simply a informing to different witnesses.

“We won’t beryllium deterred. We won’t beryllium distracted. And we won’t beryllium delayed,” Thompson added.

The Tuesday evening ballot sends the contempt solution to the afloat House, which is expected to ballot connected the measurement Thursday. House support would nonstop the substance to the Justice Department, which would past determine whether to prosecute transgression charges against Bannon.

The contempt solution asserts that the erstwhile Trump adjutant and podcast big has nary ineligible lasting to rebuff the committee — adjacent arsenic Trump’s lawyer has argued that Bannon should not disclose accusation due to the fact that it is protected by the privilege of the erstwhile president’s office. The committee noted that Bannon, fired from his White House occupation successful 2017, was a backstage national erstwhile helium spoke to Trump up of the attack. And Trump has not asserted immoderate specified enforcement privilege claims to the sheet itself, lawmakers said.

Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, 1 of conscionable 2 Republicans connected the committee, said: “Mr. Bannon’s and Mr. Trump’s privilege arguments bash look to uncover 1 thing, however: They suggest that President Trump was personally progressive successful the readying and execution of January 6th. And we volition get to the bottommost of that.”

The committee says it is pursuing Bannon’s grounds due to the fact that of his evident relation successful the events of Jan. 6, including his communications with Trump up of the siege, his efforts to get the erstwhile president to absorption connected Jan. 6, the time Congress certified the statesmanlike vote, and his comments connected Jan. 5 that “all hellhole is going to interruption loose” the adjacent day.

Bannon “appears to person had aggregate roles applicable to this investigation, including his relation successful constructing and participating successful the ‘stop the steal’ nationalist relations effort that motivated the attack” and “his efforts to program governmental and different enactment successful beforehand of January 6th,” the committee wrote successful the solution recommending contempt.

The Biden White House has rejected Bannon’s claims, with Deputy Counsel Jonathan Su penning Bannon’s lawyer this week to accidental that “at this constituent we are not alert of immoderate ground for your client’s refusal to look for a deposition.” Biden’s judgement that enforcement privilege is not justified, Su wrote, “applies to your client’s deposition grounds and to immoderate documents your lawsuit whitethorn possess.”

Asked past week if the Justice Department should prosecute those who garbage to testify, Biden said yes. But the Justice Department rapidly pushed back, with a spokesperson saying the section would marque its ain decisions.

While Bannon has said helium needs a tribunal bid earlier complying with his subpoena, erstwhile White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and erstwhile White House and Pentagon adjutant Kashyap Patel person been negotiating with the committee. It is unclear whether a 4th erstwhile White House aide, Dan Scavino, volition comply.

The committee has besides subpoenaed much than a twelve radical who helped program Trump rallies up of the siege, and immoderate of them are already turning implicit documents and giving testimony.

The ballot came a time aft Trump sued the committee and the National Archives to combat the merchandise of documents the committee has requested. Trump’s lawsuit, filed aft Biden said he’d let the documents’ release, claims that the panel’s August petition was overly wide and a “vexatious, amerciable sportfishing expedition.” Trump’s suit seeks to invalidate the entirety of the legislature request, calling it overly broad, unduly burdensome and a situation to separation of powers. It requests a tribunal injunction to barroom the archivist from producing the documents.

The Biden administration, successful clearing the documents for release, said the convulsive siege of the Capitol much than 9 months agone was specified an bonzer condition that it merited waiving the privilege that usually protects White House communications.

Associated Press Writers Jill Colvin, Colleen Long, Zeke Miller, Nomaan Merchant and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.