The Republican members of Congress, led by Speaker Mike Johnson have announced that they will file an amicus brief in Washington, D.C. The Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Steve Bannon, a former Trump advisor.
House leaders, led by Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana (R), will file a legal brief in support of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s appeal against his conviction for defying a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee. Will file a brief to support former Trump advisor Steve Bannon in his appeal against his conviction of defying the subpoena of the select committee on Jan. 6.
In 2022, the former Trump advisor was found guilty of two counts of contempt after refusing to appear before a panel for an interview and refusing to hand over documents. He has appealed the case to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Bannon, who was ordered by the Supreme Court to report to jail for a 4-month sentence on July 1, filed a last-minute emergency appeal to stay out of prison while he appealed his conviction.
Although the brief technically comes from a bipartisan House Group, in this particular case, the decision was made strictly on party lines as expected:
Leaders from the GOP confirmed that the Bipartisan Legal Advisory group — which is composed of the Speaker, the leaders of both the majority and minority parties and their whips — has voted on a party-line basis to submit an amicus brief in the Bannon case to the appellate court.
The amicus brief, which will support neither party and be filed after Bannon files his petition for a rehearing in a quorum of the House, will be presented by Johnson to House Majority leader Steve Scalise (R – La). In a joint press release, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La) and House Minority Whip Tom Emmer(R-Minn. ) stated that the amicus brief would be submitted after Bannon files a petition for rehearing en banc. “It will retract certain arguments that the House made earlier in the litigation regarding the organization of the Select Committee for Investigating the January 6, Attack on the U.S. Capitol, during the previous Congress. House Republican Leadership believes Speaker Pelosi misused her authority in organizing the Select Committee.
Speaker Pelosi ignored the nominations made by House Republicans to fill out this Select Committee and installed Republicans of her choice.
Speaker Johnson:
Johnson told Sean Hannity of Fox News that “we’re working to file an amicus brief” in his appeals work in his case, because we believe the Jan. 6, committee was wrongly constituted. We think that the work was tainted. We believe that they could have covered up evidence or even done more sinister things.
He continued, “We’ve investigated the committee itself. We disagree with how Speaker Pelosi compiled all of that; we believe it violated House Rules.” “We’ll express that to the Court, and I believe it will help Steve Bannon with his appeal.”
It’s unlikely, at this point, that anyone involved in setting up the J6 Committee will face any consequences.
In June, it’s important to remember that Attorney General Merrick G. Garland had also been held in contempt by Congress for refusing audio recordings of President Biden’s interviews with Special Counsel Robert Hur regarding the classified documents case.
Garland, who is the head of the Department of Justice in Garland’s jurisdiction, has refused to bring charges.
This case is in progress. We will continue to follow the case and provide you with updates as warranted.
