The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol voted unanimously Tuesday night to recommend that the full House hold former Trump administration adviser Steve Bannon in criminal contempt for defying the panel’s subpoena for documents and testimony.
The action escalates a brewing legal showdown that will mark the first test of the committee’s power to counter former President Donald Trump’s attempts to thwart its inquiry into the circumstances of the attack on the Capitol by his supporters, which injured dozens of law enforcement officers and interrupted Congress’s certification of the 2020 Electoral College results.
Bannon has refused to testify or provide documents to the committee at Trump’s direction.