Meadows defies Jan. 6 committee, risking contempt charges

[left-of-center2012]

Source: The Hill

Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows has failed to show up for a Friday deposition with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to multiple reports, despite a threat from the panel it would seek to hold him in contempt for any defiance. Meadows was not seen entering the Capitol and his attorneys had indicated he would not appear. The committee did not immediately respond to request for comment from The Hill.

The move tees the committee up to pursue yet another full House vote to censure a witness for failing to appear before the panel’s investigators, kicking to the Department of Justice the decision of whether to pursue criminal charges.

“Mr. Meadows’s actions today — choosing to defy the law — will force the Select Committee to consider pursuing contempt or other proceedings to enforce the subpoena. If his defiance persists and that process moves ahead, the record will reveal the wide range of matters the Select Committee wished to discuss with Mr. Meadows until his decision to hide behind the former President’s spurious claims of privilege," Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said in a joint statement.

"Many of those matters are not even conceivably subject to any privilege claim, even if there were one." The threat from the committee comes as it has been engaging with Meadows since September about a deposition originally scheduled for Oct. 15.



Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/581284-meadows-defies-jan-6-committee-risking-contempt-charges

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Meadows’s defiance brings to three the number of those subpoenaed who have defied the committee.

[Ocelot II]

1. Well, the indictment of Steve Bannon this afternoon might have come as a shock to him,

and maybe he should rethink his decision a bit in light of that development.

[Ford_Prefect]

3. Bannon and the rest believe they can defy the system because Trump has corrupted it, thus they are

connected and protected as any good mob soldiers would be. As long as the Big Lie holds sway in Congress and the Senate they may be. The longer they can string out and delay any actions taken in response the larger the Lie becomes and the more likely it will carry into the 2022 elections.

[PSPS]

2. "Risking." The "penalty" ascribed to this crime is only 30-90 days and/or $10 - $100.

[Ford_Prefect]

4. I beg to differ.

Currently, actions for which individuals can be held in contempt of Congress are largely a matter of statutory law and focus mostly on when individuals refuse to appear or give testimony for a Congressional investigation or hearing. The U.S. Supreme Court in Watkins v. United States confirmed Congressional power to issue subpoenas, stating that all citizens have a duty to “cooperate with the Congress in its efforts to obtain the facts needed for intelligent legislative action,” and that they must “respond to subpoenas [and] testify.” Federal law penalizes individuals who refuse to respond to Congressional inquiries, as 2 U.S.C. § 192 states that any person who is summoned before Congress who "willfully makes default, or who, having appeared, refuses to answer any question pertinent to the question under inquiry" shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a maximum $1,000 fine and 12 months’ imprisonment.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/contempt_of_congress

[PSPS]

5. I was just repeating what I heard on NPR. Maybe they were looking at past sentences.

[Ford_Prefect]

6. Interesting that NPR would refer to it that way. Wonder what their definition of his crime is?

[Ford_Prefect]

8. Huffington Post lists it differently.

Each count of contempt of Congress carries a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of one year in jail, as well as a fine of $100 to $1,000.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/steve-bannon-indicted-contempt-of-congress_n_618ed511e4b0c621c5cd054e

[ColinC]

7. I like that there is no uncertainty they will be indicted

Executive privilege doesn't work when you no longer work for the executive.