The House of Representatives voted Thursday to hold former President Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress after he declined to cooperate with a congressional investigation of the Jan. 6 โStop the Stealโ rally.
The partisan vote came after the Democrat-led Jan. 6 Committee voted to move the charge forward to be confirmed in the House. Members of the commission alleged that Bannon refusing a subpoena to provide documents and testimony to the panel constitutes contempt of Congress.
The contempt resolution argues that Bannon has no legal standing to defy the subpoena.
Trumpโs attorney argued that Bannon shouldnโt comply because the requested information is protected by the former presidentโs executive privilege. Team Trump submitted a memo to Trumpโs website announcing a โlawsuit to defend executive privilege.โ
โThe January 6th Committee is a partisan sham to distract Americans from the Democratsโ policies that are killing and robbing Americans,โ the memo alleged.
The committee says it wants Bannonโs documents and testimony because he was in touch with Trump before the Jan. 6 incident, because he tried to get Trump to focus on the congressional certification of the election results, and because he said on Jan. 5 that โall hell is going to break looseโ the next day.
Bannon โappears to have had multiple roles relevant to this investigation, including his role in constructing and participating in the โstop the stealโ public relations effort that motivated the attackโ and โhis efforts to plan political and other activity in advance of Jan. 6,โ the committee alleged in the resolution.
With the Houseโs certification of the charge, it is now up to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to decide whether or not to pursue legal action.
President Joe Biden has encouraged the DOJ, led by his appointee Merrick Garland, to prosecute those found to have violated the Jan. 6 commissionโs subpoenas.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki later sought to clarify Bidenโs remarks, writing on Twitter that he โsupports the work of the committee and the independent role of the Department of Justice to make any decisions about prosecutions.โ
By Joseph Lord
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Marjorie Taylor Greene Shreds Dems Over Bannon Vote
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene reports on a busy day in the House of Representatives, including the vote to hold โWar Roomโ host Steve Bannon in contempt for refusing to cooperate with the select Jan. 6 Witch Hunt Committee.
โI sat on the House floor when they were debating the House resolution to hold an innocent American in contempt, which is you Steve, and Republican Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, the two chosen Republicans that Nancy Pelosi put on the Witch Hunt Committee thatโs nothing but a sham. You know they kicked off Jim Jordan and Jim Banks. They wouldnโt allow them to participate. Liz Cheney was the one in charge of the Republican side of the debate. She only yielded her time to Democrats; she never yielded her time to Republicans, and they only gave us 20 minutes. โฆ So then the vote took place and here they are celebrating voiting to hold an innocent man in contempt because you didnโt go answer the subpoena and show up to their fake committee that isnโt even constitutional because they arenโt allowing โฆ our Republican comrades to participate.โ
MEMO: Lawsuit Filed to Defend Executive Privilege, U.S. Constitution
Today, President Donald J. Trump filed a lawsuit in defense of the Constitution, the Office of the President, and the future of our nation, all of which the sham Unselect Committee is trying to destroy. The fact is America is under assault by Pelosiโs Communist-style attempt to silence and destroy America First patriots through this hyper-partisan and illegitimate investigation.
โ The January 6th Committee is a partisan sham to distract Americans from the Democratsโ policies that are killing and robbing Americans. For example:
o The Border crisis is flooding our communities with drugs and gangs, while costing taxpayers billions.
o The Democrats’ mismanagement of COVID exposed Americaโs elderly to a deadly disease and then in many cases, forced them to die alone.
o By defunding the police and embracing criminals, Democrats have made our cities less safe.
o The unconstitutional mandates are destroying the economy.
โ The media is complicit in advancing the Committeeโs unconstitutionally flawed request.
โ This committee exposed itself as a sham by requesting documents which serve no legitimate legislative purposeโwhat does President Trump’s campaign polling data from Florida have to do with an investigation into January 6th?
The Legal ArgumentโThree Pillars
- No Legitimate Legislative Purpose:The legislative committeesโ request fails to meet the basic requirement of fulfilling a legislative purpose. The request is not just overly broad, it requests documents including campaign polling dataโwhat does Congress hope to learn from this?
- Newsflash: Polling shows Bidenโs approval cratering and 2022 slipping out of Democratsโ graspโno wonder the Democrats and the media want to distract America from: The surrender in Afghanistan, skyrocketing inflation, a border crisis, crippling COVID mandates, and a stalled legislative agenda.
- Former Presidents have inherent Constitutional Rights of Privilege: An incumbent administration does not have the constitutional authority to unilaterally waive the executive privilege of a previous administrationโespecially one so recent. If it did, then executive privilege doesnโt exist, including for Joe Biden.
- Newsflash: No one is following this argument more closely than: (1) Hunter Biden and his art dealer, (2) The Woke Generals and Intel leaders who advised the Surrender in Afghanistan and the bombing of innocent civilians and children (3) Big Tech who has been actively engaged with the Biden administration to subvert Democracy through dark money organizations
- Time for Review:The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has not even had the time to compile and organize the documents being requested by Congressโwhich is the largest request in American History. President Trump and Joe Biden should be afforded the time to diligently review any protected and privileged documents before it is released to the public.
- Newsflash: The Committee is motivated by one thing: delivering political wins for the Democrats. Thatโs why theyโve set a rapid timetable that steamrolls the Constitution, legal precedent, and established process. The Committee isnโt seeking the truth, itโs seeking Communist-style political persecution of President Trump and the America First patriots who served their country honorably.
Taylor Budowich
Director of Communications
President Donald J. Trump and Save America PAC