Steve Bannon defies subpoena, faces possible criminal contempt

The House select committee probing the deadly Capitol riot said Friday it could soon advance a referral to hold former Trump advisor Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress over his refusal to comply with a subpoena.

Bannon, who departed then-President Donald Trump‘s White House years before the Jan. 6 invasion of the Capitol, “has indicated that he will try to hide behind vague references to privileges of the former President,” the House panel said in a statement.

“Though the Select Committee welcomes good-faith engagement with witnesses seeking to cooperate with our investigation, we will not allow any witness to defy a lawful subpoena or attempt to run out the clock, and we will swiftly consider advancing a criminal contempt of Congress referral,” said the statement from Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.

It is unclear how soon the select committee could push a criminal contempt referral forward. When a person defies a congressional subpoena, the House can certify a contempt citation to the executive branch for criminal prosecution.

Once received, any prosecution would be in control of the Biden administration, which on Friday blocked Trump’s attempt to keep Jan. 6-related documents out of the select committee’s hands, NBC News reported.

“President Biden has determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the best interests of the United States, and therefore is not justified as to any of the documents,” White House counsel Dana Remus wrote in a letter to the National Archives, NBC reported.

“The constitutional protections of executive privilege should not be used to shield, from Congress or the public, information that reflects a clear and apparent effort to subvert the Constitution itself,” Remus wrote.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed at a briefing Friday that Biden “determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not warranted for the first set of documents from the Trump White House that have been provided to us by the National Archives.”

But she added that Biden will evaluate future questions of executive privilege “on a case-by-case basis.”

The select committee had set a deadline for Bannon to produce the requested materials by Thursday, which he missed. The panel also set a date for the following Thursday for Bannon to appear for a deposition.

Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Defense Department official Kashyap Patel, two Trump associates who were also issued subpoenas, “are, so far, engaging with the…