The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot will vote to hold anyone who defies its subpoenas in criminal contempt, a leading member said Tuesday.
Rep. Adam Schiff put Attorney General Merrick Garland in the hot seat as he made the clearest threat yet to allies of former President Donald Trump that the Democratic-led panel will seek action from the Justice Department if they don’t cooperate.
“If witnesses do not show up, we will hold them in criminal contempt. We will vote them in contempt in the House, and we will refer them for prosecution,” the California Democrat said during an interview on MSNBC.
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That statement goes beyond the one released by committee leaders last week that they would “swiftly consider” advancing a criminal contempt of Congress referral for subpoena resisters.
Former President Donald Trump directed a quartet of close advisers not to comply with subpoenas issued by the House Jan. 6 Select Committee that sought documents by last week and testimony this week.
One of them, Trump’s onetime chief strategist, Steve Bannon, has indicated he will not cooperate. His attorney cited executive privilege, likely prompting a legal battle. Bannon, in particular, was asked to appear for a deposition on Thursday.
Mark Meadows, former White House chief of staff, and Kash Patel, a former Pentagon aide, were so far “engaging” with the committee, panel leaders said last week. Dan Scavino, another Trump White House aide, was served a subpoena on Friday after a struggle to locate him, according to CNN.
Eleven others tied to the organization of the Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 rallies leading up to the Capitol riot have also been subpoenaed.
President Joe Biden’s White House declined to assert executive privilege after Trump sought to withhold an initial set of documents related to the Jan. 6 riot from Congress. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said further requests will be “reviewed on a case-by-case basis.”
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Drawing a sharp contrast with the Justice Department during the Trump administration, when House Intelligence Committee members said Bannon got away with answering “scripted” questions from White House officials during its Russia investigation, Schiff said the agency is now “independent” under Garland, who he said “believes in the rule of law” and that “no one is above the rule of law.”
If the Justice Department acts, Schiff said, “That will be a sign that our democracy is recovering. That the Justice Department is upholding the principle that no one is above the law.”
