Page 629 - Contempt News Today

>> criminal referrals for contempt of congress, by the way, are very rare. the last one was during the regan administration. that ended in a jury acquittal. chairman thompson said hes not ruling out a subpoena for the former president. so, here to break it all down with me is former federal prosecutor michael selden. glad you could be here for the conversation. walk us through what happens next. this is going to take awhile. >> so, when the house returns on tuesday, the committee will vote thi...

Criminal contempt prosecution of at least steve bannon, and perhaps others who were defy -- who were defying the january-6th committee. i think that that is close to a foregone conclusion, at this point. i think its important to say that beginning that process of criminal contempt is very different from a resolution of the issue because it is a largely unused power that -- that the justice department has. it is complex, legally. it involves going to a grand jury. it involves, potentially, a jury...

Calendar against steve bannon, who is bucking the january 6th committee. will this make him talk? or will it make him a martyr? the chair of the panel did not hold back today. >> steve bannon and his advice to former president trump leaves us no choice. so the committee will do what we are required to do. were left with no other choice than to ask the justice department, lock him up, hold him in contempt. >> congressman adam schiff tweeting earlier, were not messing around. can they back up the ...

Investigating the capitol hill riot has announced it will officially move forward to hold steve bannon, the presidents former top aide, in criminal contempt. this decision follows bannon saying he wont provide testimony to the committee until it reaches an agreement with former president trump over trumps claims of executive privilege or until a court weighs in. the committees chairman congressman bennie thompson saying this. >> if he refuses the subpoena, like we expect him to continue to do, t...

And anybody that is either being subpoenaed now or will be in the future, think twice before you reject a lawful order from congress. >> now, if steve bannon is found to be in contempt, he could face a fine and up to 12 months in prison. the process is seldom invoked and rarely leads to jail time. but a former attorney says the threat is already bringing results. >> theyre getting a ton of information, an ingredient in that is not just the carrot, but the stick. and this bannon contempt, however...

Plan to proceed with criminal contempt. and i think others should take note that the committee will employ every tool available including that same tool if they dont want to cooperate. but thankfully, like i mentioned, wolf, there was 11 subpoenas offered to the funders and organizers of the activities and were engaged with those individuals and well receive documents and hopefully testimony from them in the future. so our goal is cooperation. our goal is to get to the truth. and if folks want t...

Good evening. there is breaking news tonight about the right of a great harm. andrew mccabe who was fired cruelly to the glee of the former president just hours before his retirement has been totally vindicated. hell speak about it for the first time in just a few moments. we begin though tonight in a similar vein with a picture of contempt in many forms. contempt for congress and the responsibility we grant it to investigate matters of national importance. contempt for the law and contempt for ...

The author of the book, "strongmen," professor, thank you for being here. it doesnt really seem to be on congresss side, you know. even if bannon were to be convicted, they wont have his testimony. is there anything that might change what happens here? >> you know, if you grow up in a democracy, kit be hard to get into the lawless mentality of somebody like bannon. its completely unsurprising he did not -- you know, hes defying the subpoena because responding to a subpoena means you are legitimi...

Stan, i think that really tells us something. i wonder if you can tell us what the next step in all of this. >> the next step will be the vote in the committee. that will be referred to the full house. assuming the full house approves the vote, it will then be certified by the house, by the speaker to the u.s. attorney for the district of columbia, and that begins a whole nother process, which requires the u.s. attorney if he decides to take the case, to put it in front of a grand jury. and then...

Has that ever worked before? >> it doesnt work well. first of all, its a very old statute theyre relying on written back in 1857. the language for contempt or the action is a willful default. makes a willful default. isnt clear even what that means. particularly in bannons situation, hes acting on the advice of counsel. i think this stuff theyll have to debate in the house and committee as to whether this raises to the level of contempt, but i think thats what they want to do. i dont know that i...