Former Trump White House Political strategist and investment banker Steve Bannon has turned the tables and subpoenaed a number of high-ranking democrats in preparation for his upcoming contempt of Congress trial. Bannon was arraigned after he did not comply with a subpoena from Nancy Pelosi’s partisan witch hunt that is making political theater out of the breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump’s former senior counselor was charged with two counts of contempt for not testifying on Oct. 14 and for not supplying documents the subcommittee had asked for.
“Mr. Bannon has declined to cooperate with the Select Committee and is instead hiding behind the former President’s insufficient, blanket, and vague statements regarding privileges he has purported to invoke,” said the committee chairman, Bennie G. Thompson, in a press release after Bannon did not appear. “The Select Committee will not tolerate defiance of our subpoenas, so we must move forward with proceedings to refer Mr. Bannon for criminal contempt.”
“The Select Committee will use every tool at its disposal to get the information it seeks, and witnesses who try to stonewall the Select Committee will not succeed,” Thompson added.
Bannon surrendered himself to federal authorities on Nov. 15.
The trial starts on July 18. If Bannon is found guilty, he could be sentenced to a minimum of one month in prison or a maximum of 1 year.
Bannon’s legal team has actually subpoenaed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, General Counsel for the House of Representatives Douglas Letter, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Home Majority Whip Representative Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, and 12 other legislators and employees.
All 9 members of the Jan. 6 Committee were subpoenaed.
“Historically it has been a challenge to compel members of Congress to testify because their legislative activity is protected under the Constitution’s Speech and Debate Clause,” reports CNN, which first reported the story.
More than 100 people have actually been subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 Committee. The list includes Trump Campaign advisor Kimberly Guilfoyle, Arizona Representative Andy Biggs, Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, former White House Deputy Chief of Personnel Christopher Liddell, previous White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and former Trade Consultant to President Trump Peter Navarro.
Navarro was prosecuted on June 3 by a grand jury after he refused to comply with the Jan. 6 committee. Like Bannon, Navarro had actually argued that he might not adhere to the committee’s subpoena due to the fact of Trump’s executive privilege.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson weighed in on the arrests stemming from non-compliance with the Jan. 6 committee.
“What we’re seeing here isn’t really about Peter Navarro or Steve Bannon, what we’re seeing is a massive escalation in the use by the Democratic Party of our justice system for partisan revenge. That’s what that was. Peter Navarro wouldn’t shut up, so they threw him in handcuffs,” Carlson said during his show on June 6. “This is a partisan play by a political party that has somehow completely taken over our largest law enforcement agency [the FBI].”
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols will oversee Bannon’s contempt trial in Washington D.C.
