Members of the Home Choose Committee tasked with investigating the January 6 riot have expressed frustration with the Division of Justice (DOJ), which has responded slowly to suggestions to hunt prices towards Trump administration aides which have defied the committee by refusing to seem for depositions or present paperwork.
“The Division of Justice has an obligation to behave on this referral and others that we have now despatched,” mentioned Consultant Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).
“With out enforcement of Congressional subpoenas, there is no such thing as a oversight, and with out oversight, no accountability — for the previous President, or every other president, previous, current, or future. With out enforcement of its lawful course of, Congress ceases to be a co-equal department of presidency, and the stability of energy could be without end altered, to the lasting detriment of the American individuals,” he mentioned.
Final night time, the committee voted to carry the Trump administration’s former commerce and manufacturing director Peter Navarro and former communications chief Daniel Scavino Jr. in contempt for refusing to adjust to committee subpoenas.
“They doubtlessly performed a component in an assault on American democracy, however they will ignore our investigation as a result of they labored for the federal government on the time. That’s their argument,” said Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.). “They’re not fooling anyone. They’re obligated to adjust to our investigation. They’ve refused to take action, and that’s against the law.”
To this point, the Justice Division has solely filed prices towards Steve Bannon, former President Donald Trump’s ex-chief strategist. It has not responded to an identical report relating to Mark Meadows, Trump’s former Chief of Employees.
In December 2021, prosecutors overseeing the case towards Bannon made clear they will make their case towards him in a single day, according to a court docket submitting.
“The Authorities anticipates that its case-in-chief will include sooner or later of testimony,” prosecutors mentioned within the report, including that they need to prohibit Bannon from using any protection that claims that he was appearing on the recommendation of his attorneys when he defied the subpoena from the Home Choose Committee tasked with investigating the occasions of January 6.
Bannon’s trial is ready to start in June. He faces as much as two years in jail and $200,000 in fines if convicted.
Alan is a author, editor, and information junkie based mostly in New York.
