By Brandon Moseley
This week, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol voted to hold former Trump political strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, in criminal contempt of Congress for failing to comply with their subpoena. The subpoena was for testimony and documents connected to the Jan. 6 riot at the United States Capitol. The full House voted to support the Committee on Thursday.
Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-AL07), was one of the House members that voted to hold Bannon in contempt.
“Steve Bannon appears to have played a multi-faceted role in the events of the January 6th attack,” Sewell said in a statement. “The American people are entitled to hear his testimony. His refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena is completely unacceptable and demonstrates that he believes he is above the law.
“Today’s vote shows that the United States House of Representatives will not be intimidated or deterred. We have a responsibility to get to the bottom of this horrific attack in order to prevent future threats to our democracy, and that is exactly what we will do.”
Members of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s investigative committee, which include seven Democrats and two Republicans, claim that Bannon had multiple roles relevant to the investigation of the Jan., 6 riot, including:
His role in constructing and participating in the “stop the steal” public relations effort that motivated the Jan. 6 incident
His efforts to plan political and other activity in advance of Jan. 6
His participation in a “war room” of promoters and prominent supporters of the “stop the steal” movement that met on Jan. 5.
His communications with President Trump several times in advance of the Jan. 6 incident, exhorting him to take measures to interfere with the count of electoral votes and to make Jan. 6 a day of reckoning.
On Sept. 23 Chairman Bennie Thompson (D) signed and transmitted a subpoena to Bannon, ordering the production of documents on Oct. 7 and requiring his presence for deposition testimony on Oct. 14. Mr. Bannon defied the subpoena.
This week's resolution, which passed the House with support of some Republicans by a vote of 229 to 202, provides that the Speaker of the House shall certify the report of the Select Committee detailing the refusal of Bannon to produce documents or appear for a deposition before the Select Committee as directed by subpoena, to the United States Attorney General. It provides that the Speaker of the House shall otherwise take all appropriate action to enforce the subpoena.
President Donald Trump's attorneys advised Bannon to hold off on appearing in court or providing documents until a lawsuit against the Select Committee and the National Archives could be resolved. Trump filed the federal lawsuit after Biden refused to invoke executive privilege to protect documents related to the case.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) questioned the validity of the subpoena in a press conference prior to the vote.
“Issuing invalid subpoena weakens our power, not if somebody votes against it,” McCarthy said.
Republican leadership urged its members to vote no on the resolution, but former House GOP leadership member Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) led a contingent of GOP members supporting the contempt motion.
“Witnesses cannot simply ignore congressional subpoenas when they prefer not to attend,” Cheney said.
Bannon, through his lawyer, cited “executive privilege,” which protects certain communications within the executive branch from the legislature or the courts.
Of the seven U.S. Representatives from Alabama, Sewell was the only one that voted to hold Bannon in contempt. She is also the only Democratic Representative from Alabama.
Bannon was formerly Trump’s Chief Strategist; but was not employed at the White House in January, which may make his claim of executive privilege legally dubious.
McCarthy, however, said Bannon “has the right to go to the court to see if he has the executive privilege or not.”
“I don’t know if he does or not, but neither does the committee,” McCarthy said. “So, they’re weakening the power of Congress itself by issuing invalid subpoenas.”
Democrats hope to get indictments against key Trump aides like Bannon, in order to compel their testimony against the former President.
Sewell is in her sixth term representing Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District.
(Original reporting by the Washington Examiner contributed to this report.)
