Thread by @AmoneyResists

Since the members of the Jan 6th committee have said they will hold Bannon in contempt if he doesn’t show up to testify (today at noon), and Bannon has said repeatedly he isn’t going to show, let’s talk about contempt of Congress—what it is, how it works and what actually happens

Contempt of Congress is defined in statute 2 U.S.C.A. § 192 (1938), which states that any person who is summoned before Congress who ‘willfully makes default’ (refuses to appear) shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a maximum $100,000 fine and 12 month imprisonment.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the first Contempt charge was issued in 1795 and since 1980 nearly 30 people have been found in contempt. Almost all modern instances have resulted in individuals cooperating or facing consequences in terms of jail time and fines.

So what happens when someone is found in contempt of Congress? Congress has 3 formal methods by which it can combat non-compliance with duly issued subpoenas via contempt, each of which invokes the authority of a separate branch of government.

Option 1: the Congressional Committee can instruct the House or Senate sergeant-at-arms to detain or imprison the person in contempt until he or she honors congressional demands. This is called “inherent contempt.” But it’s exceedingly rare and has not been used in modern times.

Option 2: Congress can refer a contempt citation to the executive branch—headed by the President and carried out by the Department of Justice—to try to get the person criminally prosecuted (This is what the Jan 6th committee will likely do if Bannon doesn’t show up at noon today)

Option 3: Congress can ask the judicial branch to enforce a congressional subpoena. Essentially Congress seeks a federal court’s civil judgment saying the person is legally obligated to comply with the subpoena. If they refuse, they are found in contempt of court and arrested.

Bannon has already indicated he will not be complying with the subpoena for his testimony. Unfortunately for him, all the reasons cited by his lawyer are invalid. Trump cannot invoke executive privilege because he’s not President, and Bannon was not working for the WH on Jan 6th.

Bannon’s lawyers also claim that he is absolved from compliance by “attorney-client privilege,” however the validity of this protection is laughable in Bannon’s case, and it’s the discretion of the Congressional committee whether such protections are applicable (they’re not).

So Congress has a multitude of contempt powers at their disposal to compel recalcitrant witnesses like Bannon to comply. Neither his letters to the committee nor his comments made on his podcast will help him circumvent the committee’s demands, & he has no chance at all in court.

Moreover, the letters his lawyers provided not only hurt their client’s case, they open Trump up to facing contempt charges as well, because they state that Bannon is refusing to cooperate “at Trump’s instruction.” This is tantamount to a signed confession of obstructing justice.