Rep. Chris Stewart’s dereliction of duty is a Washington tragedy
(Tom Williams | CQ Roll Call via AP) Reps. Tom O’Halleran, D-Ariz., left, and Chris Stewart, R-Utah, view rioters who broke into the Capitol during a joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College votes of 2020 presidential election on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021.
Utah’s congressman for the 2nd District of Utah, Chris Stewart, has sworn to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” both as member of the House of Representatives and as a former Air Force officer, but he is willfully derelict in his duty. Stewart’s failure to defend the Constitution may not be a federal criminal offense, but it is a most grievous dereliction.
A whiff of tragedy comes with this allegation. Stewart’s pre-congressional resume suggests not only a love of country but also a hatred of totalitarian regimes and tinpot dictators. Before Donald Trump became the Republican Party’s standard bearer, he called Trump “America’s Mussolini.” However, Stewart became a Trump acolyte after Trump became president in 2016, siding with Trump in a series of increasingly incomprehensible and indefensible votes.
Stewart objected to the counting of the electoral votes in swing states carried by Joe Biden, voted no on the two Trump impeachments as well as the motion to create a House select committee to investigate the January 6 Capitol attack. He voted yes to oust Trump’s nemesis, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, from her insider position in the Republican Conference.
Stewart’s latest kowtow to Trump came a few days ago when he cast the vote that broke this camel’s back. Along with all except nine Republicans, Stewart voted “no” on a motion to charge a former Trump White House staffer Steve Bannon with criminal contempt for intentionally refusing to testify before the House Select Committee investigating the taking of the Capitol last January 6. With the Democrats still in the House majority, the motion carried notwithstanding Stewart and his comrades’ best efforts to kill it. Bannon almost certainly will be charged by federal prosecutors and receive the justice he so richly deserves.
The January 6 committee’s job is to understand the forces behind the Capitol attack. A day before the attack, Bannon forecast on his podcast that the next day would be “extraordinarily different than most Americans expected.” He predicted, “All hell is going to break loose tomorrow.” Bannon told any listeners who profess that if there were a revolution, they would go to Washington: “This is your time in history.”
Not surprisingly, Bannon’s foreknowledge of the attack spurred the committee to subpoena him. However, Stewart and his gang not only unsuccessfully opposed the subpoena, but also voted not to punish Bannon for not complying with the committee’s subpoena.
Defending his no vote, Stewart said, “Speaker Pelosi’s select…
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