Bannon indictment defies history of Congress' contempt power

3 years ago 240

WASHINGTON – Steve Bannon's indictment connected contempt of Congress charges is the nation's archetypal since 1983, and his appearance successful national tribunal Monday provides a uncommon glimpse into 1 of U.S. lawmakers' politically messiest and least-used powers.

The past palmy prosecution reaches each the mode backmost to Watergate and its aftermath erstwhile G. Gordon Liddy and Richard Kleindienst were convicted and pleaded guilty, respectively, for refusing to reply legislature questions.

Bannon is facing national charges for refusing a House subpoena to archer Congress what helium knows astir the lead-up to the Jan. 6 Capitol onslaught to interrupt certification of Democrat Joe Biden's predetermination triumph implicit President Donald Trump.

The past indictment 3 decades agone was little historic: A national biology authoritative nether President Ronald Reagan failed to heed a House subpoena. The official, Rita M. Lavelle, who headed the Superfund, would spell connected to beryllium acquitted of the contempt complaint but aboriginal was convicted of lying to Congress. She was sentenced to six months successful situation and fined $10,000.

Defendant Lavelle was a subordinate of the Republican administration, portion Democrats controlled the House. And the Justice Department has been wary of prosecuting specified cases erstwhile the White House and the House of Representatives are controlled by opposing governmental parties.

“While the (contempt) instrumentality doesn’t differentiate successful immoderate mode betwixt a Republican oregon a Democratic president oregon Congress, it tends to interruption down on those lines,” said Stan Brand, who served arsenic erstwhile House counsel erstwhile lawmakers referred the then-EPA main to the U.S. Justice Department for transgression charges.

Prior to that case, the bulk of contempt of Congress cases were successful transportation with the House Un-American Activities Committee, which was formed successful 1938 to analyse individuals and organizations for subversive activities, peculiarly those related to the Communist Party.

A fig of contempt cases from HUAC were yet overturned owed to procedural failures. But its wide publicized hearings opening successful 1947 focusing connected the movie manufacture led to situation sentences for respective screenwriters and directors, the alleged Hollywood Ten. They refused to reply questions astir their governmental activities oregon place like-minded colleagues and were jailed for up to a twelvemonth arsenic good arsenic blacklisted successful the industry.

At present, Democrats power the House and White House arsenic lawmakers are probing the worst onslaught connected the U.S. Capitol successful 2 centuries, which occurred with Republican Trump astatine the White House calling for protests.

But adjacent with the existent unsocial circumstances astatine play, prosecution of these charges trust connected a instrumentality that hasn’t produced a condemnation successful decades and could instrumentality years to litigate.

“Historically, if you look astatine the grounds of these types of cases successful the ‘50s, ’60s, adjacent the precocious ‘’40s, truthful galore of them were thrown retired by the courts for method deficiencies,” Brand said.

“It’s not that these cases are complicated, but they are hard cases to make,” helium added.

When Brand was House counsel successful 1982, a subcommittee held then-EPA main Anne Gorsuch Burford, the parent of existent Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, successful contempt for her refusal, astatine the absorption of then-President Reagan, to crook implicit subpoenaed documents astir her agency’s efforts to enforce a instrumentality requiring the cleanup of hazardous discarded dumps. The Justice Department declined to prosecute the charges and went connected to record a suit to forestall further enactment connected the contempt referral.

The section successful the Obama medication declined to prosecute then-Attorney General Eric Holder and erstwhile IRS authoritative Lois Lerner pursuing contempt referrals from the Republican-led House. And George W. Bush’s Justice Department declined to complaint Harriet Miers aft the erstwhile White House counsel defied a subpoena successful a Democratic probe into the wide firings of United States attorneys.

In all, the House has brought 5 transgression contempt and 3 civilian contempt actions against Executive Branch officials since 2008. In each lawsuit of a transgression contempt citation, the enforcement subdivision declined to notation the charges to a expansive jury.

Brand said the hurdles that person faced past committees is that the Justice Department has historically not prosecuted enforcement officials who were instructed by the president to rise enforcement privilege.

This, helium said, is not needfully the lawsuit with Bannon, wherever the courts volition person to specify the limits of enforcement privilege and if the implied statesmanlike powerfulness protects the capableness of erstwhile White House aides and extracurricular allies of the president.

Bannon, 67, was indicted connected Friday connected 2 counts of transgression contempt –- 1 for refusing to look for a legislature deposition and the different for refusing to supply documents successful effect to the committee’s subpoena.

His indictment came arsenic a 2nd expected witness, erstwhile White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, defied his ain subpoena from the committee connected Friday and arsenic Trump has escalated his ineligible battles to withhold documents and grounds astir the insurrection.

Bannon did not participate a plea during Monday's proceeding and was released without bail. He is owed backmost successful tribunal connected Thursday.

___

Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Michael Balsamo and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

Read Entire Article