Update (11/15/21): Nearly a month after the House voted to hold longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress, and three days after he was indicted on two counts of criminal contempt, Bannon surrendered to federal authorities Monday. The video above shows some of the comments he and his attorney made after his court appearance. The indictment includes two counts — one for refusing to appear for a congressional deposition and the other for refusing to provide documents in response to the committee’s subpoena.
According to the indictment, Bannon didn’t communicate with the committee in any way from the time he received the subpoena on Sept. 24 until Oct. 7. His lawyer eventually sent a letter to the committee seven hours after the documents were due.
“I’m telling you right now this is going to be the misdemeanor from hell for Merrick Garland, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden. Joe Biden ordered Merrick Garland to prosecute me from the White House lawn when he got off Marine One,” Bannon said after his hearing. “And we’re going to do, we’re going to go on the offense. We’re tired of playing defense. We’re going to go on the offense on this and stand by.”
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Original Story (10/21/21): The House of Representatives voted to hold longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress Thursday afternoon. The video above shows clip from Thursday’s vote. It came two days after the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riots did the same.
The final House vote to hold Bannon in contempt was 229-202. All Democrats voted to hold Bannon in contempt, with all but nine Republicans voting against. One of those nine Republicans was Rep. Liz Cheney, the vice chairwoman of the committee.
“Mr. Bannon’s own public statements make clear he knew what was going to happen before it did, and thus he must have been aware of — and may well have been involved in — the planning of everything that played out on that day,” Rep. Cheney said ahead of the vote. “The American people deserve to know what he knew and what he did.”
Other Republicans called the investigation a “witch hunt” and said there were more important issues for Congress to deal with. Rep. Jim Banks, led the GOP opposition on the floor. He called the probe an “illicit criminal investigation into American citizens” and referred to Bannon as a “Democrat Party boogeyman.”
The decision on whether to press contempt charges against Bannon now heads from the House to the Justice Department. Attorney General Merrick Garland addressed the contempt vote in his testimony in front of the House Judiciary Committee Thursday. However, he gave little indication as to what the department will do.
“If the House of Representatives votes for a referral of a contempt charge, the Department of Justice will do what it always does in such circumstances,” Garland said. “It will apply the facts and the law and make a decision consistent with the principles of prosecution.”
Even if the Justice Department does decide to prosecute, the case could take years to play out. It could potentially go past the 2022 midterm elections. That means Republicans could end the investigation if they win control of the House.