House Votes To Hold Former Trump Strategist Steve Bannon In Contempt

The House of Representatives voted Thursday to hold former Trump ally Steve Bannon in contempt after defying a subpoena issued by the Jan. 6 Committee.

The final vote was 229 to 202 with 9 Republicans voting in the majority with every Democrat. The case will be sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland’s office where he will make the final decision on whether or not to prosecute.

According to the Jan. 6 Committee, contempt of Congress is punishable by up to one year in jail and a maximum fine of $100,000. The vote came three days after Trump filed a lawsuit in an attempt to block investigators from obtaining documents related to the assault on the Capitol.

Democrats vowed to form a “9/11 style commission” to investigate the attack that took place just two weeks prior to President Biden’s inauguration. The Jan. 6 committee voted 9-0 to recommend charges after Bannon missed a scheduled interview with the panel last week. The committee noted Bannon promoted the protests on his podcast one day prior to the assault saying “all hell is gonna break loose.”

“Mr. Bannon’s own public statements make clear he knew what was going to happen before it did, and thus he must have been aware of -- and may well have been involved in -- the planning of everything that played out on that day,” said Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.

“The American people deserve to know what he knew and what he did,” Cheney added.

If the Justice Department decides to prosecute it may take years for Bannon’s case to play out, possibly past the 2022 midterms.