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Thursday, October 21, 2021

Congress voted 229-202 including 9 Republicans to ask the Justice Department for criminal prosecution over Trump's adviser Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress


Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon exits the Manhattan Federal Court, following his arraignment hearing for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, in New York, August 20, 2020. Andrew Kelly | Reuters

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(Oct. 21, 2021): ABC News reported that, Bannon, who had been conferring with then-President Donald Trump and his top allies ahead of Jan. 6, snubbed the committee's subpoena for testimony and documents about what he knew about the riot, with his attorney arguing that he shouldn't have to comply because Trump might try to claim executive privilege.

In a Jan. 5 podcast, Bannon said: "All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. ... So many people said, 'Man, if I was in a revolution, I would be in Washington.' Well, this is your time in history."

The House passed a resolution Thursday finding Trump adviser Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress and asking the Justice Department for criminal prosecution over his refusal to cooperate with an investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The resolution passed largely along party lines in a 229-202 vote. Nine Republicans and every Democrat voted for the measure. Rep. Greg Pence, R-Ind., the brother of former Vice President Mike Pence, did not vote.

"Steve Bannon has led us down this path by refusing to cooperate in any way with our investigation," Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the chairman of the House select committee investigating the riot, said on the House floor before the vote. He said the committee needs to talk to Bannon because he has potentially important information about the effort to delay the counting of electoral votes on Jan. 6.

Read more details from Yahoo News at: https://news.yahoo.com/9-republicans-voted-to-hold-close-trump-aide-bannon-in-contempt-of-congress-224650016.html

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9 Republicans voted to hold Trump aide Bannon in contempt of Congress

·Chief National Correspondent

There were a few Republicans Thursday who surprised observers when they voted in support of holding former Trump adviser Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress and referring him to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution.

Prior to the vote, four Republicans were considered a lock to approve the criminal referral, according to Capitol Hill sources: Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Fred Upton of Michigan and Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio.

Cheney and Kinzinger are on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and have for months stood alone as the only two House Republicans willing to speak out against former President Donald Trump’s continued lies about the 2020 election. They were the only two House Republicans to vote for the formation of the select committee on June 30.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi formed the select committee after Republicans rejected a bipartisan commission that would have been evenly split between five Democrats and five Republicans. Only 35 Republicans voted for that measure when it passed the House of Representatives, and it was defeated by a GOP filibuster in the Senate.

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 27:  (L-R) Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) arrive for the House Select Committee hearing investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol on July 27, 2021 at the Canon House Office Building in Washington, DC. Members of law enforcement will testify about the attack by supporters of former President Donald Trump on the U.S. Capitol. According to authorities, about 140 police officers were injured when they were trampled, had objects thrown at them, and sprayed with chemical irritants during the insurrection. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
From left: Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, a Democrat, and Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois arrive for the House Select Committee hearing investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Upton has served in the House for more than three decades, since 1987, and will face a primary challenge next year because of his willingness to stand up to Trump.

Gonzalez is retiring from Congress next year, after only four years in the House. "While my desire to build a fuller family life is at the heart of my decision, it is also true that the current state of our politics, especially many of the toxic dynamics inside our own party, is a significant factor in my decision," Gonzalez said in September when he announced he would not seek another term.

The remaining five Republicans included three who voted for impeachment — Peter Meijer of Michigan, John Katko of New York and Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington — and two House Republicans who did not vote to impeach Trump: Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.

 Only 10 House Republicans voted to impeach Trump in January, a week after he spoke to a crowd in front of the White House on Jan. 6, and instructed them to march to the U.S. Capitol and “fight like hell.” It was the second time Trump was impeached by the House, the first time any president in American history had been impeached twice.

The three House Republicans who had voted to impeach Trump but voted against holding Bannon in contempt on Thursday were Dan Newhouse of Washington, Tom Rice of South Carolina and David Valadao of California.

UNITED STATES - MAY 14: Rep. Greg Pence, R-Ind., is seen in the Capitol Visitor Center after Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., won the election for House Republican Conference chair on Friday, May 14, 2021. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Rep. Greg Pence, R-Ind. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images)

There was one House Republican who did not vote at all on Thursday: Greg Pence of Indiana, the elder brother of former Vice President Mike Pence, who was hunted by insurrectionists as they stalked through the hallways of the U.S. Capitol, egged on by inflammatory tweets from Trump himself, who blamed Pence for refusing to overturn the election. Greg Pence had voted against impeachment, against the bipartisan commission to investigate Jan. 6 and against the creation of the select committee.

Mace, who represents a moderate coastal district in South Carolina, said that she had voted for holding Bannon in contempt even though she had voted against forming the select committee because it is now a “duly formed” body. “I'm going to fight for subpoena powers ... no matter who's in power, because we've got to have the opportunity and the ability to investigate,” she told a Politico reporter.

Fitzpatrick represents the Philadelphia suburbs, a moderate district, and has tried to fashion a bipartisan voting record.

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