Bannon indictment defies history of Congress’ contempt power
Washington – Steve Bannon’s indictment on contempt of Congress charges is the nation’s first since 1983, and his appearance in federal court provides a rare glimpse into one of U.S. lawmakers’ politically messiest and least-used powers.
The last successful prosecution reaches all the way back to Watergate and its aftermath when G. Gordon Liddy and Richard Kleindienst were convicted and pleaded guilty, respectively, for refusing to answer congressional questions.
Bannon appeared in federal court Monday to face charges for refusing a House subpoena to tell Congress what he knows about the lead-up to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack to interrupt certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory over President Donald Trump.
The last indictment three decades ago was less historic: A federal environmental official under President Ronald Reagan failed to heed a House subpoena. The official, Rita M. Lavelle, who headed the Superfund, would go on to be acquitted of the contempt charge but later was convicted of lying to Congress. She was sentenced to six months in prison and fined $10,000.
Defendant Lavelle was a member of the Republican administration, while Democrats controlled the House. And the Justice Department has been wary of prosecuting such cases when the White House and the House of Representatives are controlled by opposing political parties.
“While the (contempt) law doesn’t differentiate in any way between a Republican or a Democratic president or Congress, it tends to break down along those lines,” said Stan Brand, who served as former House counsel when lawmakers referred the then-EPA chief to the U.S. Justice Department for criminal charges.
Prior to that case, the majority of contempt of Congress cases were in connection with the House Un-American Activities Committee, which was formed in 1938 to investigate individuals and organizations for subversive activities, particularly those related to the Communist Party.
A number of contempt cases from HUAC were eventually overturned due to procedural failures. But its widely publicized hearings beginning in 1947 focusing on the film industry led to prison sentences for several screenwriters and directors, the so-called Hollywood Ten. They refused to answer questions about their political activities or identify like-minded colleagues and were jailed for up to a year as well as blacklisted in the industry.
At present, Democrats control the House and White House as lawmakers are probing the worst attack on the U.S. Capitol in two centuries, which occurred with Republican Trump at the White House calling for protests.
But even with the current unique circumstances at play, prosecution of these charges rely on a law that hasn’t produced a conviction in decades and could take years to litigate.
“Historically, if you look at the record of these types of cases in the ‘50s, ’60s, even the late “40s, so many of them were thrown out by the courts for technical deficiencies,” Brand said.
“It’s not that these cases are complicated, but they are difficult cases to make,” he added.
When Brand was House counsel in 1982, a subcommittee held then-EPA chief Anne Gorsuch Burford, the…
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