WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Elaine Luria, a member of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol, today voted to find Stephen K. Bannon in contempt of Congress for failure to comply with a congressional subpoena. The matter will now be referred to the United States Attorney General for the District of Columbia.
Prior to her vote, Congresswoman Luria spoke on the floor with members of the select committee. You can watch her remarks here.
Mr. Bannon’s testimony is central to the select committee’s investigation and he is the sole witness refusing to engage with the committee at this time. According to published reports, and his own public statements, Stephen Bannon had specific knowledge about the events planned for January 6 before they occurred. On his January 5, 2021 podcast, Bannon said, “All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. … It’s not going to happen like you think it’s going to happen. OK, it’s going to be quite extraordinarily different. All I can say is, strap in … You made this happen and tomorrow it’s game day. So strap in. Let’s get ready. So many people said, ‘Man, if I was in a revolution, I would be in Washington.’ Well, this is your time in history.”
The contempt of Congress statute makes clear that a witness summoned before Congress must appear or be “deemed guilty of a misdemeanor” punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 and imprisonment for up to one year. The U.S. Supreme Court has emphasized that the subpoena power is a “public duty, which every person within the jurisdiction of the Government is bound to perform when properly summoned.”