Next week, the chairman of the House inquiry into the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection is expected to move to recommend that Steve Bannon, a top advisor to former President Donald Trump, face criminal contempt charges.
These charges are related to Bannon’s refusal to cooperate with the House committee's investigation, according to The New York Times.
This move is just one part of a battle between the investigation committee and Trump over access to witnesses and documents, said the outlet. Many rioters who stormed the capitol during the violent event were Trump supporters attempting the stop the final vote count for current President Joe Biden, who won the 2020 election against Trump.
Bannon reportedly communicated with Trump on Dec. 30 to discuss Jan. 6, when Trump also held a rally for supporters in Washington D.C. Bannon was also at a Jan. 5 meeting at the Willard Hotel in Washington.
While Trump has tried to claim executive privilege to shield documents and other information from the committee, the Biden administration has refused to honor it. This is unusual, said The New York Times.
Trump has also asked former aides not to cooperate. Bannon, for example, told the panel last week he would defy a subpoena in accordance with a directive from Trump.
“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,” Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the Democrat-controlled committee, said.
Robert J. Costello, a lawyer for Mr. Bannon, said in a letter to the committee on Wednesday that his client would not produce documents or testimony “until such time as you reach an agreement with President Trump” on claims of executive privilege “or receive a court ruling.”
Even if Trump was granted executive privilege, its questionable whether Bannon’s exchanges regarding the Capitol riots would be protected. He left the White House in 2017, so any conversations with Trump around Jan. 6 could be considered outside of executive duties, said the New York Times.
“Privilege for a private citizen, who was potentially talking about things outside of the president’s official duties, has never been tested in court,” said Jonathan D. Shaub, a law professor at the University of Kentucky who worked at the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.
Committee members are expected to consider and agree to the criminal contempt citation against Bannon Tuesday, sending it to the House of Representatives. Democrats have the votes to approve it there. Next, the citation would have to go to the Justice Department.
Two other Trump advisers – Mark Meadows and Kash Patel – have also declined to comply with its subpoenas but have not entirely rejected the committee inquiry. They were not facing contempt charges as of Friday.
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