Washington (Trends Wide) — Members of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 bombing of the US Capitol demonstrated that they are willing to file contempt complaints against witnesses who refuse to comply with panel subpoenas.
But what does that mean?
Criminal contempt is one of three options that the Congressional panel can apply to enforce its subpoenas, along with civil and inherent contempt.
In the panel’s first test of will to pursue such a referral, the commission voted unanimously Tuesday night to refer Trump ally Steve Bannon to the Justice Department on criminal contempt charges after he refused to meet a deadline of citation.
“It is a shame that Mr. Bannon has put us in this situation. But we will not take ‘no’ for an answer,” commission chairman Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi, said before the vote. “We believe that Mr. Bannon has information relevant to our investigation, and we will use the tools at our disposal to obtain that information.”
Here’s what criminal contempt is and how it compares to civil and inherent contempt:
Criminal contempt
Now that Steve Bannon’s criminal contempt referral has been approved by the commission, he is heading to the House for a vote. If that vote is successful, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi certifies the report to the federal attorney for the District of Columbia.
By law, this certification then requires the federal prosecutor to “bring the matter before the grand jury for action,” but the Department of Justice will also make its own prosecution decisions.
Anyone found liable for contempt of Congress is then guilty of a crime that can carry a fine and between one and 12 months in prison. But this process is rarely invoked and rarely leads to jail.
As serious as a criminal contempt complaint sounds, the House’s choice to go to the Justice Department may be more of a warning shot than a solution. Charging someone with criminal contempt can take years, and historical contempt cases have been derailed by appeals and acquittals.
Civil contempt
Unlike criminal contempt, civil contempt would involve Congress asking the judiciary to enforce a congressional subpoena.
In other words, Congress would seek a civil judgment from a federal court saying that the person is legally bound to comply with the subpoena.
During the presidency of Donald Trump, the House tried this approach many times, but the judicial process moved so slowly that it took months or even years to resolve the clashes.
Some, like a House subpoena for Trump’s Treasury statements, still linger before a trial judge.
Inherent contempt
The third option the panel could use to enforce its subpoenas would be inherent contempt, which involves telling the House or Senate sergeant-at-arms to detain or jail the person in contempt until they comply with the demands of Congress.
This is an extremely rare process and has not occurred in modern times.
Trends Wide’s Zachary Cohen, Ryan Nobles, Annie Grayer, Whitney Wild, and Kristen Holmes contributed to this report.
Washington (Trends Wide) — Members of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 bombing of the US Capitol demonstrated that they are willing to file contempt complaints against witnesses who refuse to comply with panel subpoenas.
But what does that mean?
Criminal contempt is one of three options that the Congressional panel can apply to enforce its subpoenas, along with civil and inherent contempt.
In the panel’s first test of will to pursue such a referral, the commission voted unanimously Tuesday night to refer Trump ally Steve Bannon to the Justice Department on criminal contempt charges after he refused to meet a deadline of citation.
“It is a shame that Mr. Bannon has put us in this situation. But we will not take ‘no’ for an answer,” commission chairman Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi, said before the vote. “We believe that Mr. Bannon has information relevant to our investigation, and we will use the tools at our disposal to obtain that information.”
Here’s what criminal contempt is and how it compares to civil and inherent contempt:
Criminal contempt
Now that Steve Bannon’s criminal contempt referral has been approved by the commission, he is heading to the House for a vote. If that vote is successful, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi certifies the report to the federal attorney for the District of Columbia.
By law, this certification then requires the federal prosecutor to “bring the matter before the grand jury for action,” but the Department of Justice will also make its own prosecution decisions.
Anyone found liable for contempt of Congress is then guilty of a crime that can carry a fine and between one and 12 months in prison. But this process is rarely invoked and rarely leads to jail.
As serious as a criminal contempt complaint sounds, the House’s choice to go to the Justice Department may be more of a warning shot than a solution. Charging someone with criminal contempt can take years, and historical contempt cases have been derailed by appeals and acquittals.
Civil contempt
Unlike criminal contempt, civil contempt would involve Congress asking the judiciary to enforce a congressional subpoena.
In other words, Congress would seek a civil judgment from a federal court saying that the person is legally bound to comply with the subpoena.
During the presidency of Donald Trump, the House tried this approach many times, but the judicial process moved so slowly that it took months or even years to resolve the clashes.
Some, like a House subpoena for Trump’s Treasury statements, still linger before a trial judge.
Inherent contempt
The third option the panel could use to enforce its subpoenas would be inherent contempt, which involves telling the House or Senate sergeant-at-arms to detain or jail the person in contempt until they comply with the demands of Congress.
This is an extremely rare process and has not occurred in modern times.
Trends Wide’s Zachary Cohen, Ryan Nobles, Annie Grayer, Whitney Wild, and Kristen Holmes contributed to this report.