MAGA champion Steve Bannon is supposed to report to federal prison on Monday, July 1, to begin serving his sentence for ignoring a subpoena from the House January 6/Liz Cheney Committee. Thanks to a last-ditch effort from House Republicans, however, he may not have to go to prison after all.
On Tuesday night, the House Bipartisan Legislative Advisory Group (BLAG) voted 3-2 that the official legal opinion of the House is that the January 6 Committee was illegitimately formed. The BLAG has instructed the House Office of General Counsel to send an emergency Amicus Brief to the US Supreme Court in support of Bannon.
Under the rules that the House adopted, the January 6 Committee was supposed to consist of 13 members, including five Republicans appointed by the minority. Then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi formed the committee with only eight members. She rejected all of Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s suggestions for Republican members and instead put Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger on the committee.
Since the committee was not formed according to the rules, the legal argument is simple. The January 6 Committee was illegitimate. Therefore, any subpoenas that the committee issued were illegitimate.
If the subpoenas were illegitimate, then Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon cannot be legitimately held in Contempt of Congress. If the Supreme Court responds to the Amicus Brief between now and Monday, Steve Bannon may not have to serve out his prison sentence. This could probably lead to Peter Navarro being released from prison as well. He’s serving a four-month sentence for the same “crime.”
Bannon says that he’s optimistic that the Supreme Court will make the right decision.
