Bannon declined to testify last week because he does not want to comment on his conversations with the then president. On the advice of Trump’s lawyers, he invokes the executive privilege from the president. That’s a president’s right to keep confidential information secret.
But that privilege only extends to a sitting president, and Trump’s successor Biden has already indicated that he will not invoke it. He is not doing so because there may have been “abuse of power, which jeopardized democracy itself,” the White House said last week.
The Commission of Inquiry purposely subpoenaed Bannon first because resistance was already expected. The House of Representatives vote to prosecute allows criminal proceedings to be initiated as the commission continues its work and examines other witnesses.
Prison sentence
Bannon’s fate now rests in the hands of Attorney General Garland. Biden-appointed Garland emphasized last day that he will strictly abide by the law in his considerations and will not be guided by politics.
Contempt of Congress carries a prison term of a minimum of one month to a maximum of one year in prison.
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