WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — The House committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol will move criminal contempt charges against those who do not comply with its subpoenas.
The committee late last month subpoenaed four members of former President Donald Trump’s administration, including former chief of staff Mark Meadows, former White House adviser Steve Bannon, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino and former Defense Department official Kash Patel.
The committee has already threatened criminal contempt charges against Bannon, who defied a subpoena to testify before the committee Thursday, citing executive privilege.
“In general, people are going to have to appear, or, you know, we will move contempt charges against them,” Representative Liz Cheney, the panel’s vice chair, told reporters Tuesday. She said the entire committee was in agreement on that point.
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, the panel’s chairman, said the house would vote on Tuesday to send criminal contempt charges to the Justice Department for Bannon.
The committee’s investigation into the deadly attack on the Capitol is also going after records and testimony from other Trump aides and the organizers of the rally that led to the insurrection, including Scavino, Meadows and Patel.
The committee said rally organizers have already submitted docs, Meadows and Patel are said to be cooperating as well.
The riot occurred as Congress was meeting to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory, delaying that process for several hours as then-Vice President Mike Pence, members of Congress, staff and journalists fled. More than 600 people now face criminal charges stemming from the event.
Reuters contributed to this report.