Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Celebrate the fucking wins.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Let me file that under fuck it.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

How stupid are these people?

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

Consistently wrong since 2002

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

Optimism opens the door to great things.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / The Jan 6 Commission Is Not Going To Put Up With Your Bullshit

The Jan 6 Commission Is Not Going To Put Up With Your Bullshit

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h/t Yarrow

Chairman Bennie G. Thompson: STATEMENT ON COOPERATION OF WITNESSES

Oct 14, 2021
Bolton, MS—Chairman Bennie G. Thompson today made the following statement:

“Mr. Bannon has declined to cooperate with the Select Committee and is instead hiding behind the former President’s insufficient, blanket, and vague statements regarding privileges he has purported to invoke. We reject his position entirely. The Select Committee will not tolerate defiance of our subpoenas, so we must move forward with proceedings to refer Mr. Bannon for criminal contempt. I’ve notified the Select Committee that we will convene for a business meeting Tuesday evening to vote on adopting a contempt report.

“The Select Committee will use every tool at its disposal to get the information it seeks, and witnesses who try to stonewall the Select Committee will not succeed. All witnesses are required to provide the information they possess so the Committee can get to the facts. We’re grateful to the many individuals who are voluntarily participating and to witnesses who are complying with subpoenas, including several who met the deadline to begin producing materials to the Select Committee. We’re moving ahead quickly to get answers for the American people about what happened on January 6th and help secure the future of American democracy.”

Background:

Any person who willfully refuses to provide testimony or documents subpoenaed by Congress, including committees of the House, is potentially liable for contempt of Congress under 2 U.S.C. §§ 192, 194. Contempt of Congress is a crime that may result in a fine and between one and twelve months imprisonment.

Contempt of Congress begins with a “formal action” by the Select Committee, i.e., a business meeting at which a contempt report is adopted. If a witness fails to appear, produce documents, or refuses to answer any question “pertinent to the question under inquiry,” the Select Committee then writes a report documenting the inquiry, the attempts to accommodate the witness’s production or testimony, and the failure by the witness to appear, produce, or answer a pertinent question. The report also contains the text of the resolution recommending the full House hold the witness in contempt.

After the Select Committee has adopted a contempt report, it is referred to the House for a vote and, upon its adoption, the Speaker certifies the report to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. Under 2 U.S.C. § 194, following such certification it is the “duty” of the United States Attorney to “bring the matter before the grand jury for its action.”

Reader Interactions

119Comments

  2. 2.

    The Moar You Know

    Susan McDougal.  Yes it can be done, and should be.  She did a year and a half in prison.  Eight months in solitary.  Throw that in the face of every Republican you hear bitching about this.

  3. 3.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Listening to MSNBC, and John Heilemann has made seven references in his three minutes or so comment about what trump et al are doing– trying to cast 1/6 as a day of great patriotism– and he has made seven references to “the President” while referring to trump. Talking heads do this all the time. Drives me crazy.

  6. 6.

    West of the Rockies

    I would be okay with Bannon pulling a Breitbart.  He brings nothing good to humanity.  He is a waste of oxygen.

  7. 7.

    satby

    Remember, Bannon is only free right because tfg pardoned him, or he might still be in the slammer. No protection from the executive branch now.

  8. 8.

    Ken

    Does this mean Bannon is now a fugitive, and anyone can arrest him for the bounty?

    Or is he an outlaw, and completely outside the protection of the laws?

  9. 9.

    andy

    Accountability- the conservative’s absolute favorite word that must never ever apply to them  if they can help it. A few days in the tank and Bannon will be screaming to testify if the Committee promises him whiskey.

  11. 11.

    bbleh

    As long as Biden / Garland ensure the skids are properly greased so that the indictment and trial and any appeals get fast action by DOJ.  Otherwise this will drag on for far longer than the fortitude or attention-span of the Dems in Congress.

  12. 12.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    After the Select Committee has adopted a contempt report, it is referred to the House for a vote

    I’ll be curious to see the votes of the Rs who voted to impeach but aren’t named Cheney or Kinzinger on this. Upton, Newhouse, Herrera-Beutler, Rice, Gonzalez, Meijer, Katko, and Valadao. The last two are from districts Biden won pretty handily.

  15. 15.

    SpaceUnit

    I have a feeling this is going to drag out for a bit.  Bannon is claiming that his refusal to comply is based on an assertion of executive privilege by a former president, so it will have to get argued in court.

    I hope he ends up before a very cranky judge though.

  16. 16.

    trollhattan

    @Ken:

    Your query can be answered by this simple test: Has he had, or helped anybody else to have, an abortion? If yes, arrest the Bannon!

  21. 21.

    Suzanne

    @Ken:

    Was Bannon the one who gave his pregnant mistress an abortifacient without her knowledge, or have I confused him with another Trump aide? 

    Only the best people.

    God.

  25. 25.

    germy

    thread:

    "Anyone can assert conclusory claims on Twitter" says Greenwald to the person who has — I think I'm right about this — written more published scholarship than anyone else alive about contempt of Congress and more than most about congressional investigations generally. https://t.co/a2IbOlOOg9

    — Josh Chafetz (@joshchafetz) October 13, 2021

    Area Substacker tries arguing with an expert on the subject.

  28. 28.

    dr. bloor

    @SpaceUnit: Unfortunately, it will almost certainly be argued at several levels of court.  All Bannon needs to do is stall with motions and appeals, and bank on the House flipping next year.

  29. 29.

    New Deal democrat

    News Of The Future

    “Supreme Court, per curium, January 16, 2023: The term of the prior Congress having expired, the appeal by the Defendant Bannon from the DC Circuit’s upholding the United State’s Motion to Proceed to Trial for criminal Contempt of Congress is hereby dismissed as moot. The charges shall be dismissed. IT IS SO ORDERED.”

    “Justice Breyer, dissenting . . . .”

  30. 30.

    Ken

    @Jeffro: ETA faster typists got there first

    That’s OK, if we all type “Trump aide Jason Miller, who gave his pregnant mistress an abortifacient without her knowledge” enough, he’ll get Santorumed.

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    @dr. bloor: Bannon wasn’t in the executive branch – to claim Executive Privilege, which even if you were part of the Executive, lies with the office and not the former office holders, is ridiculous!

  37. 37.

    germy

    A reminder that a “referral for criminal prosecution” is just a recommendation from Congress. It’s up to DOJ to prosecute Bannon for contempt of Congress. Will that happen? I don’t think anyone knows.

    — Jan Wolfe (@JanNWolfe) October 14, 2021

    The Select Committee provided an explanation of what happens next re: Steve Bannon. There's a whole statutory process for referring him to DOJ. By law, they gotta write a report, take a House vote, etc. This won't happen overnight. pic.twitter.com/zcp4yC0itS

    — Jan Wolfe (@JanNWolfe) October 14, 2021

  40. 40.

    germy

    Important to note Jan. 6 committee moving as fast as it is allowed by House rules: Thompson needs to issue three-day notice for meeting to refer Bannon, before House can vote to send to US Attorney for DC.

    — Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) October 14, 2021

  41. 41.

    trollhattan

    Oh mah stars, I do declare the good senator from South Carolina is having another a case of the vapahs. This time it’s Gucci Brazilians!

    Sen. Lindsey Graham, an outspoken critic of President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, said affluent Brazilians were illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and heading to Connecticut “wearing designer clothes and Gucci bags.”

    In an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity on Tuesday, Graham, R-S.C., was critical of the administration’s order to halt large-scale immigration arrests at job sites, with plans for a new approach to target employers who pay substandard wages and engage in exploitative labor practices.

    “Now, what [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas did today, calling off all the raids of worksite, is going to be another incentive for people to come, because the word is out. You come, you claim asylum, you never leave. The policy choices of Biden are all over the world now,” Graham said.

    The senator, who recently visited the border in Arizona, added: “We had 40,000 Brazilians come through the Yuma Sector alone headed for Connecticut wearing designer clothes and Gucci bags. This is not economic migration anymore.”

    NB an economic migration is stacks of hundreds marching across a vast wasteland.

  42. 42.

    Another Scott

    @SpaceUnit: No, as I understand it anyway, he’s not claiming that TFG has claimed Executive Privilege.  He’s saying that he **might**.

    They tried to run out the clock with the same nonsense when TFG was in office.  It won’t work this time, and Biden has already said No.

    “Claim or Claim Not, there is no Might.”

    Grrr…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  43. 43.

    germy

    Trump under oath. It's happening.

    A judge ordered him to testify *next week* in a lawsuit brought by protestors roughed up outside Trump Tower.

    They were protesting his remark that Mexican immigrants were rapists. A confrontation with bodyguards ensued.https://t.co/QoveQOwVt7 pic.twitter.com/dgTPUSsbJd

    — Jan Wolfe (@JanNWolfe) October 14, 2021

    In this photo the attacker wears the modern fascist uniform: blue suit with red tie.

  46. 46.

    Lapassionara

    I wish the committee would have some public hearings. I remember being riveted to the TV during the Watergate hearings. They went on for months. What gives with this behind the scenes stuff?

  47. 47.

    Central Planning

    IANAL, but isn’t the privilege with the President, not the person? Since Biden has decided to release all sorts of information from January 6, wouldn’t he be the person that would say ‘yay’ or ‘nay’ to the claim of privilege?

  50. 50.

    Lapassionara

    @trollhattan: I think Lindsay is  just projecting. In any event, we do need more workers in the hospitality industry. More people with fashion sense should be a plus, in my view.

  51. 51.

    Roger Moore

    @germy:

    “Anyone can assert conclusory claims on Twitter” says Greenwald

    He must have an excellent barber, because there’s no way he can stay that well shaved without looking in a mirror at least once a day.

  52. 52.

    catclub

    @Omnes Omnibus: She was being held on civil contempt grounds. She could have walk out of jail at my time if she agreed to testify.

     

    Bannon will testify if being in jail kills his fundraising.

  53. 53.

    catclub

    @Central Planning: but isn’t the privilege with the President,

     

    There are laws, which look extremely stupid now, that give ex- presidents a huge amount of say-so on release of said president’s  papers.

  54. 54.

    Another Scott

    @bbleh: There’s a fairly big Twitterer named Matthew Gaetz (IIRC) that explicitly said (for at least a while) he wasn’t that other guy.  Can’t find the handle at the moment…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  57. 57.

    bbleh

    @Central Planning: Executive Privilege as I understand it is an invention of the courts to protect the Constitutional interest of the Executive and hence inheres in the office of the Presidency, not in any particular President (other than the one holding the office at the time).

  61. 61.

    trollhattan

    @NotMax: @Lapassionara: 
    I do believe it’s a major plus to have more folks at our high-end hospitality businesses who can speak fluent Portuguese. English and Spanish-speaking folks are a dime a dozen, we need to expand our customer base! Who better than stylish Brazilians?

  70. 70.

    WaterGirl

    @trollhattan: As a rule of thumb, if Lindsey Graham is unhappy then I figure the Biden administration is doing something very right.

    edit: I love this on the merits, also.

    the administration’s order to halt large-scale immigration arrests at job sites, with plans for a new approach to target employers who pay substandard wages and engage in exploitative labor practices.

  71. 71.

    WaterGirl

    @Another Scott: Yes, I believe Biden had to give an answer, which he has done.  And Trump has 30 days to respond to Biden’s answer.

    There’s a whole process, but it’s not that long, and Trump is gonna lose this one.

  79. 79.

    Scout211

    Moderna boosters are a go. Link

    All 19 members of the committee supported authorizing a 50-microgram booster dose — half the size of the 100-microgram doses used in the primary series of the two-dose vaccine — at least six months after the second dose, and only for certain groups: people age 65 and older; people ages 18 to 64 who are at high risk of severe Covid-19; and people ages 18 to 64 whose exposure to the coronavirus in their settings or jobs put them at risk for Covid-19 complications or severe illness.

  81. 81.

    WaterGirl

    @Scout211: I wonder if Biden expected that to happen earlier today and that’s why they scheduled the last-minute talk by Biden in which he didn’t really seem to be saying anything new.

  82. 82.

    New Deal democrat

    @Central Planning: “Since Biden has decided to release all sorts of information from January 6, wouldn’t he be the person that would say ‘yay’ or ‘nay’ to the claim of privilege?”

    Biden can say whatever he pleases, and then the Courts get to rule on whether they agree with him or not. And the courts can move at lightning speed or a snail’s pace, as they and only they get to choose.

    People think we have three co-equal branches of government. We do not. The Supreme Court gets the last word and can issue Orders to the Executive Branch to take or not take action, and to the Congress to reformulate or strike down laws as they please.

  84. 84.

    Another Scott

    RollCall:

    Kashyap Patel, a former Defense Department official in the Trump administration who was involved in security planning and responding to the Jan. 6 insurrection, did not appear Thursday for his scheduled deposition before the House select committee investigating Jan. 6.

    “He didn’t show up. He’s continuing to engage,” Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a member of the panel, told CQ Roll Call. “We have a limited threshold of patience for that.”

    The committee is set to meet later Thursday.

    Although Patel didn’t show up for his scheduled deposition, he has been fundraising off the subpoena issued to him and has criticized the panel as “corrupt.”

    […]

    Because of course he has…

    The committee has said it would refer criminal contempt of Congress charges to the Department of Justice if individuals such as Bannon don’t cooperate. That process could be lengthy, and whether the panel members can get all the information they need for a comprehensive investigation remains to be seen.

    Kinzinger said the panel thinks the DOJ will be “very cooperative” and said the department has been thus far.

    He added, “If a criminal referral is passed out of the House and signed by the speaker, that is, I think that’s guaranteed to be slated for grand jury. The question is just when.”

    Those charged with criminal contempt of Congress can face a fine and up to a year in prison.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  85. 85.

    Old School

    @Poe Larity:

    Southlake (TX) school leader tells teachers to balance Holocaust books with ‘opposing’ views

    The article reads to me that suggestion was her interpretation of the new Texas law.  It doesn’t seem like she was saying hearing the opposing view was necessarily a good idea, only that is was required.

  91. 91.

    trollhattan

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Lemme see: they talk funny, they play something called futebol where the bol is a sphere and not pointy, they break into dance for no obvious reason, they hold epic parties outdoors. Yep, scary folks.

  92. 92.

    Another Scott

    Virginia peeps, and everyone interested:

    The GOP is trying to steal elections through state houses. In November they want to flip Virginia’s. These candidates could block them from doing so, and need early money. You can make the biggest impact in state legislative races. If you give, Give Smart https://t.co/vYJ9OktK8F

    — Donate to Give Smart, voting started in VA (@BobbyBigWheel) June 17, 2021

    (via LOLGOP)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  93. 93.

    J R in WV

    @Poe Larity: ​
     

    Having read the linked article, I see that The Bible, showing only a single viewpoint on the religious foundation of the entire world, is no longer allowed in Southlake Schools.

    Also, racism is required to be presented in a positive light, as opposed to calling out the Confederacy and slavery as unhumane and cruel. And the the real history of the Holocaust must be balanced with anti-Semitic texts popular during the Third Reich of that nice man, Mr. Adolph Hitler, as reported by the FTFNYT.

    I have a CD of work songs recorded at Angola, black men enslaved by the State. Hard to believe, slavery never ended down there in LA.

  97. 97.

    Kent

    @Renie: David Irving isn’t the opposite viewpoint.  He just denies that it happened.  The opposite view point would be Mein Kampf and the idea that the Jews, Gays, and Gypsy got what they deserved.

  98. 98.

    Ken

    @Scout211: people age 65 and older; people ages 18 to 64 who are at high risk of severe Covid-19; and people ages 18 to 64 whose exposure to the coronavirus in their settings or jobs put them at risk

    Curse my relatively young, relatively healthy body and my work-from-home job!

  102. 102.

    Roger Moore

    @Another Scott: ​
     
    I don’t see how Bannon would be affected by claims of executive privilege for 1/6, since he wasn’t in the government at the time. There’s no plausible way to stretch the concept of executive privilege to cover people who aren’t part of the government.

  107. 107.

    dr. bloor

    @Roger Moore: Alas, many of the federal judges Moscow Mitch and TFG pried into office last term are too legally ignorant to grasp that point, and the remaining judges are too authoritarian and corrupt to care.

  109. 109.

    Mousebumples

    @Scout211:

    @WaterGirl: Pharmacist nit-picking – this is only a recommendation. Not a full go until ACIP votes (next week Thursday, i think)… Or in the case of Pfizer, until overruled by… FDA chair, i think?

  112. 112.

    Scout211

    @Mousebumples:

    this is only a recommendation.

    Yes, thank you for the correction. I posted that link and then read the whole story. This is the first step and tomorrow the same panel is reviewing the J&J booster. Next week we should hear the official recommendations.

  113. 113.

    rumpole

    This could go a whole bunch of ways. The criminal contempt provision is a misdemeanor, with a max time of one year. He will not get a year. And remember too that MacDougal refused to answer questions from the grand jury … that’s why she got locked up. So Bannon could still show up (was a mistake not to and just be uncooperative; could take five and litigate for years). His letter was so frivolous that it’s an invitation to criminal contempt.

    The crime is fully baked now; he can’t walk away from it. The clock’s ticking on ’22. The sooner they bring this case, the more likely it is that he’s in the hoosegow. (What McCarthy et al are going to do with this power is terrifying.).

  114. 114.

    ian

    @trollhattan: 

    Sen. Lindsey Graham, an outspoken critic of President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, said affluent Brazilians were illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and heading to Connecticut “wearing designer clothes and Gucci bags.”

    That may be some of the dumbest arguments on immigration I have ever heard.

    Wealthy people (yes, even Brazilians) can afford plane tickets and travel visas. They would not walk across the border, they would fly here and overstay their visa. If they can afford designed clothes and gucci stuff, they can afford plane tickets.

  115. 115.

    Mousebumples

    @Scout211: no worries. As a member of #TeamModerna, and eligible for a booster (*under Pfizer guidelines), I’ve been waiting eagerly for more info.

  117. 117.

    dww44

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I know , I know:  it’s a dead thread but i was in my car and had Nicole’s show on and heard Heileman say this all those times.  I thought when she came on she’d say but you were referring to TFG, right?  Didn’t happen.  Pissed me off.  And yes, they do it all the time.  Make the mistake of referring to Trump as President.  We don’t need any jinxing from our very own side.

  119. 119.

    Kosh III

    There is no guarantee Justice will ask for an indictment.

    Why can’t the House vote on Contempt of Congress, pass it, then Peolsi sends the sergeant-at-arms of the House to drag his butt off to jail. It’s one of the powers of the Speaker.

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