The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol is threatening to hand out criminal contempt referrals after a lawyer for former Trump strategist Steve Bannon said his client would not cooperate with subpoenas.
Bannon was one of four advisers to former President Donald Trump who facedto hand over documents relating to the events of the day, along with former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former social media director Dan Scavino and Kashyap Patel, who was chief of staff to Trump's defense secretary.
In a joint statement, committee chair Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and vice-chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said “While Mr. Meadows and Mr. Patel are, so far, engaging with the Select Committee, Mr. Bannon has indicated that he will try to hide behind vague references to privileges of the former President.
Such a referral would essentially ask the Department of Justice to prosecute a person for contempt of Congress. If convicted, the person could face fines or up to a year behind bars. In a letter to the committee dated Oct. 7, Bannon attorney Robert Costello said he'd been told by Trump lawyer Justin Clark that Trump planned on claiming "executive and other privileges." "ntil these issues are resolved, we are unable to respond to your request for documents and testimony," Costello wrote.
He added, "We will comply with the directions of the courts, when and if they rule on these claims of both executive and attorney client privilege" — although Bannon is not a lawyer and Trump has yet to file any legal action.Unlike Meadows, Scavino and Patel, Bannon was not a member of the administration when he was advising Trump in the runup to Jan. 6.
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