Hold on to your liver spots, because the January 6 commission has won two indictments against Trump insurrection adviser Steve Bannon for refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas.
The House select committee investigating the January 6 Capital insurrection has been running into roadblocks lately, because as expected, none of Trump’s loyalists are willing to cooperate with subpoenas. As recently as just this morning, Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows blew off his subpoena, as people like him and Steve Bannon are calling Congress' bluff by essentially saying “What are you going to do about it?”
The Justice Department just served a big ol’ helping of Fuck Around and Find Out. The New York Times reports that Steve Bannon has been indicted on two counts of contempt of Congress; one for refusing to appear before the committee, and another for refusing to produce subpoenaed documents.
Stephen K. Bannon Indicted for Contempt of Congress
— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) November 12, 2021
Two Charges Filed for Failing to Honor House Subpoena From Select Committee Investigating Jan. 6 Capitol Breachhttps://t.co/4SxgGiuLNx
“As detailed in the indictment, on Sept. 23, 2021, the Select Committee issued a subpoena to Mr. Bannon",” U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves said in the indictment announcement. “The subpoena required him to appear and produce documents to the Select Committee, and to appear for a deposition before the Select Committee. According to the indictment, Mr. Bannon refused to appear to give testimony as required by subpoena and refused to produce documents in compliance with a subpoena.”
ALERT: Law enforcement expects Steve Bannon to self-surrender on his criminal charges in DC on *MONDAY*
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) November 12, 2021
And there’s more fun. USA Today reports that “Bannon, 67, is scheduled to surrender Monday to authorities and make his first court appearance that day.”
CONFISCATE STEVE BANNON’S PASSPORT BEFORE HE HAS A CHANCE TO FLEE TO BELARUS!! ✈️
— Jon Cooper 🇺🇸 (@joncoopertweets) November 12, 2021
The House committee needed a win like this, as they’ve hit other roadblocks this week. On Thursday, a federal appeals court temporarily blocked the release of Trump’s White House records of January 6 from the National Archives. That temporary block merely delays court hearings on the matter until November 30, but is indicative of Team Trump’s strategy to delay everything as long as possible, and just hope Republicans win back the House a year from now.
LETS GO BANNON
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) November 12, 2021
So, will we see Steve Bannon doing a perp walk? Possibly, kind of! (He was arraigned on Zoom for his most recent indictment.) We last saw a criminal prosecution for contempt of Congress applied to G. Gordon Liddy in 1974. In Bannon’s case, this is an indictment, and not a conviction. So he will have the “run out the clock” strategy where he can keep appealing things, and try to do so for a year. But a year is still a pretty long time, and if convicted, Bannon is looking at a minimum 30 day jail sentence, with a maximum of one year.
And this time, Bannon can't get a pardon from Trump like he did over his 2020 fraud charges for scamming $1 million for “Build the Wall” suckers.
Related: Trump Supporters Storm Capitol in Washington After President Incites Riot, One Person Dies [SFist]
Image: NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 20: Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon exits the Manhattan Federal Court on August 20, 2020 in the Manhattan borough of New York City. Bannon and three other defendants have been indicted for allegedly defrauding donors in a $25 million border wall fundraising campaign. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)