Jan. 6 panel moving swiftly as it sets Bannon contempt vote

WASHINGTON – A legislature committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection has moved aggressively against adjacent Trump advisor Steve Bannon, swiftly scheduling a ballot to urge transgression contempt charges against the erstwhile White House adjutant aft helium defied a subpoena.

The president of the peculiar committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the sheet volition ballot Tuesday to urge charges against Bannon, an advisor to Donald Trump for years who was successful interaction with the president up of the astir superior battle connected Congress successful 2 centuries. And precocious Friday, President Joe Biden said helium thinks his Justice Department should prosecute.

“The Select Committee volition not tolerate defiance of our subpoenas,” Thompson said successful a connection Thursday. Bannon, helium said, is “hiding down the erstwhile president’s insufficient, broad and vague statements regarding privileges helium has purported to invoke. We cull his presumption entirely.”

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If approved by the Democratic-majority committee, the proposal of transgression charges would spell to the afloat House. Approval determination would nonstop them to the Justice Department, which has last accidental connected prosecution.

Asked if the Justice Department should prosecute those who garbage to testify, Biden said yes.

“I anticipation that the committee goes aft them and holds them accountable,” Biden told reporters Friday astatine the White House.

Later Friday night, White House property caput tweeted that Biden “supports the enactment of the committee and the autarkic relation of the Department of Justice to marque immoderate decisions astir prosecutions.”

The showdown with Bannon is conscionable 1 facet of a wide and escalating legislature inquiry, with 19 subpoenas issued truthful acold and thousands of pages of documents flowing to the committee and its staff. Challenging Bannon's defiance is simply a important measurement for the panel, whose members are vowing to reconstruct the unit of legislature subpoenas aft they were routinely flouted during Trump’s clip successful office.

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The committee had scheduled a Thursday deposition with Bannon, but his lawyer said Trump had directed him not to nutrient immoderate accusation protected by enforcement privileges afforded to a president, and Bannon wouldn't comply “until these issues are resolved.” Bannon, who was not a White House staffer connected Jan. 6, besides failed to supply documents to the sheet by a deadline past week.

Still, the committee could extremity up stymied again aft years of Trump medication officials refusing to cooperate with Congress. The longtime Trump advisor likewise defied a subpoena during a GOP-led probe into Trump’s Russia ties successful 2018, but the House did not clasp him into contempt.

Even though Biden has been supportive of the committee’s work, it is uncertain whether the Justice Department would take to prosecute the transgression contempt charges against Bannon oregon immoderate different witnesses who mightiness defy the panel. Even if it the section does prosecute, the process could instrumentality months, if not years. And specified contempt cases are notoriously hard to win.

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Members of the committee are pressuring the section to instrumentality their side.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who besides sits connected the Jan. 6 panel, said helium expects the Justice Department to prosecute the cases.

“The past 4 years person fixed radical similar Steve Bannon the content they’re supra the law,” Schiff said during an interrogation for C-SPAN’s Book TV that airs adjacent weekend. “But they’re going to find retired otherwise.”

While Bannon has outright defied the Jan. 6 committee, different Trump aides who person been subpoenaed look to beryllium negotiating. And different witnesses are cooperating, including immoderate who organized oregon staffed the Trump rally connected the Ellipse down the White House that preceded the riot.

Many of the rioters who stormed the Capitol connected Jan. 6 marched up the National Mall aft attending astatine slightest portion of Trump’s rally, wherever helium repeated his meritless claims of predetermination fraud and implored the assemblage to “fight similar hell.” Dozens of constabulary officers were injured arsenic the Trump supporters overwhelmed them and broke done windows and doors to interrupt the certification of Biden’s victory.

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The rioters repeated Trump’s mendacious claims of wide fraud arsenic they marched done the Capitol, adjacent though the results of the predetermination were confirmed by authorities officials, upheld by courts and adjacent rejected by Trump's ain lawyer general.

The sheet has besides issued a subpoena to a erstwhile Justice Department lawyer, Jeffrey Clark, who positioned himself arsenic Trump’s state and aided the Republican president’s efforts to situation the results of the 2020 election.

A Senate committee study issued past week showed that Clark championed Trump’s efforts to undo the predetermination results and clashed arsenic a effect with section superiors who resisted the pressure, culminating successful a melodramatic White House gathering astatine which Trump ruminated astir elevating Clark to lawyer general.

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