House Panel Recommends Contempt Charge for Stephen Bannon

WASHINGTON — One time earlier a mob of erstwhile President Donald J. Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol, Stephen K. Bannon, a erstwhile apical advisor to Mr. Trump, made a prediction to listeners of his vigor show.

“Now we’re on, arsenic they say, the constituent of onslaught — the constituent of onslaught tomorrow,” Mr. Bannon said connected Jan. 5 arsenic helium promoted a program hatched by Mr. Trump and far-right Republican lawmakers to effort to overturn President Biden’s triumph the adjacent day, erstwhile Congress would conscionable to formalize the predetermination results. “It’s going to footwear off. It’s going to beryllium precise dramatic.”

It is due to the fact that of comments similar that, which foreshadowed the unit that played retired during the Capitol riot, that the House committee investigating the battle is funny successful questioning Mr. Bannon. But the erstwhile counsellor to Mr. Trump has refused to cooperate with the inquiry, citing the erstwhile president’s assertion of enforcement privilege.

The sheet connected Tuesday voted unanimously to urge charging Mr. Bannon with transgression contempt of Congress for defying its subpoena, sending the substance to the House, which is expected to o.k. the determination and manus the substance implicit to the Justice Department for prosecution.

“The regularisation of instrumentality remains nether onslaught close now,” said Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the president of the committee. “If there’s nary accountability for these abuses — if determination are antithetic sets of rules for antithetic types of radical — past our ideology is successful superior trouble.

“Mr. Bannon volition comply with our investigation,” helium added, “or helium volition look the consequences.”

Mr. Thompson said helium expected the afloat House to “quickly” instrumentality up the matter.

The high-profile confrontation is the archetypal of respective that committedness to trial the boundaries of enforcement privilege — the statesmanlike prerogative to support authoritative communications concealed — and volition find however acold the House committee volition beryllium capable to spell successful uncovering the communicative down the deadliest onslaught connected the Capitol successful 2 centuries.

Mr. Trump has filed his ain national suit that touches connected akin questions, suing some the president of the investigative committee and the caput of the National Archives, the custodian of his statesmanlike records, to artifact the merchandise of worldly the sheet has requested.

Many Democrats fearfulness that case, arsenic good arsenic immoderate the Justice Department mightiness determine to bring against Mr. Bannon, whitethorn resistance connected for months, perchance agelong capable for Republicans to summation the House bulk successful 2022 and hide the enquiry — and with it, immoderate anticipation of revealing caller accusation astir what precipitated the riot.

Members of the committee, which is controlled by Democrats, judge that Mr. Bannon has important accusation astir plans to undermine Mr. Biden’s victory, including conversations Mr. Bannon had with Mr. Trump successful which helium urged the erstwhile president to absorption his efforts connected Jan. 6.

In a study recommending the House find Mr. Bannon successful contempt, the committee repeatedly cited comments helium made connected his vigor amusement connected Jan. 5 — erstwhile Mr. Bannon promised “all hellhole is going to interruption escaped tomorrow” — arsenic grounds that “he had immoderate foreknowledge astir utmost events that would hap the adjacent day.”

Investigators wrote that Mr. Bannon appeared to “have had aggregate roles applicable to this investigation,” including successful constructing the “Stop the Steal” nationalist relations effort to dispersed the lies of a fraudulent predetermination that motivated the attack, and participating successful events from a ‘‘war room” organized astatine a Washington, D.C., edifice with different allies of Mr. Trump who were seeking to overturn the election.

The radical included members of the Trump campaign’s ineligible team, including Rudolph W. Giuliani and John C. Eastman; and salient proponents of mendacious predetermination fraud claims, including Russell Ramsland Jr. and Boris Epshteyn; arsenic good arsenic Trump state Roger J. Stone Jr., who near the edifice with members of the Oath Keepers militia radical acting arsenic bodyguards, the committee wrote.

“It’s not going to hap similar you deliberation it’s going to happen,” Mr. Bannon told his assemblage connected Jan. 5. “It’s going to beryllium extraordinarily different. And each I tin accidental is: Strap in.”

Robert J. Costello, Mr. Bannon’s lawyer, has informed the committee that his lawsuit would not comply, citing Mr. Trump’s directive for his erstwhile aides and advisers facing subpoenas to invoke immunity and refrain from turning implicit documents that mightiness beryllium protected nether enforcement privilege.

Under national law, immoderate idiosyncratic summoned arsenic a legislature witnesser who refuses to comply tin look a misdemeanor complaint that carries a good of $100 to $100,000 and a jailhouse condemnation of 1 period to 1 year.

During the Tuesday committee meeting, Representative Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming and the committee’s vice chairwoman, directed a remark to her Republican colleagues, informing them that pursuing Mr. Trump’s lies was a medicine for “national self-destruction.”

“Almost each of you cognize successful your hearts that what happened connected Jan. 6 was profoundly wrong,” she said. “You cognize that determination is nary grounds of wide predetermination fraud capable to overturn the election; you cognize that the Dominion voting machines were not corrupted by a overseas power. You cognize those claims are false.”

But some Mr. Bannon’s and Mr. Trump’s cases rise caller ineligible issues. The lawsuit against Mr. Bannon is untested due to the fact that helium has not been an enforcement subdivision authoritative since helium left the White House successful 2017, and immoderate conversations helium whitethorn person had with Mr. Trump pertaining to Jan. 6 are apt to person fallen extracurricular the erstwhile president’s authoritative duties. No tribunal has definitively said whether conversations with backstage citizens are covered by enforcement privilege, which is mostly extended successful narration to conversations oregon documents that pertain to statesmanlike duties.

And the Biden medication has refused to asseverate enforcement privilege implicit immoderate of Mr. Trump’s Jan. 6-related material, saying that it would not beryllium successful the nationalist involvement to support concealed the details of a crippled to thwart the peaceful transportation of power.

Committee members said they were assured that they would prevail successful their propulsion to get the information.

“The erstwhile president’s wide nonsubjective is to halt the prime committee from getting to the facts astir Jan. 6, and his suit is thing much than an effort to hold and obstruct our probe,” Mr. Thompson and Ms. Cheney wrote successful effect to Mr. Trump’s suit. “Precedent and instrumentality are connected our side.”

Claims of enforcement privilege day backmost to the precise archetypal legislature investigation, successful George Washington’s administration, said Douglas L. Kriner, a prof of authorities astatine Cornell University and writer of the publication “Investigating the President: Congressional Checks connected Presidential Power.”

However, Mr. Bannon’s concern is antithetic from galore erstwhile cases successful which the privilege was invoked.

“It’s hard to ideate however this jeopardizes nationalist security,” Mr. Kriner said of releasing documents from the Trump administration. “It doesn’t impact a existent ongoing medication that mightiness beryllium harmed successful immoderate way, and it doesn’t adjacent impact the close to frank and unfastened speech betwixt the president and different advisers wrong the administration.”

The committee ballot comes arsenic immoderate Senate Republicans are holding up the confirmation of Mr. Biden’s nominee for the U.S. lawyer successful Washington, D.C., who would oversee charges against defendants related to the Jan. 6 attack, including immoderate imaginable charges against Mr. Bannon.

Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, has enactment a clasp connected the information of Matthew M. Graves to pb the office, according to 2 radical with cognition of the situation.

Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s nonvoting delegate, said she was assured Mr. Graves would yet triumph approval, but that his information had go mired successful Republican hostility astir the effort to analyse the Capitol riot.

“It truly isn’t related to him astatine all,” Ms. Norton said. “It’s partisan. It does subordinate to Jan. 6. It’s a tantrum, really.”

Mr. Lee’s bureau did not respond to a petition for comment.

Emily Cochrane contributed reporting.