by John Solomon
The House subcommittee chairman investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot’s intelligence and security failures made an extraordinary intervention Wednesday at the Supreme Court, telling the justices he believes an earlier Democrat-led investigation into the tragedy was “factually and procedurally invalid” and therefore could not lawfully hold ex-Trump adviser Stephen Bannon in contempt.
The 11th hour amicus brief filed by Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., comes as the nation’s highest court considers Bannon’s emergency request to delay his four-month prison sentence for contempt of Congress set to begin July 1 until the legal issues are resolved.
“This Court should conclude that the entire prosecutorial process against the applicant was tainted and must be dismissed as a matter of law,” Loudermilk pleaded in his motion.
Loudermilk offered a technical and procedural challenge, arguing the failure of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi to allow Republicans to pick their own ranking member on the Democrat-run Jan. 6 select committee violated the rules Congress set for itself and therefore tainted the committee’s efforts to compel Bannon to testify and to hold him in criminal contempt when he defied a subpoena back in 2022.
“The Select Committee violated the House Rules and House Regulations for the Use of Deposition Authority … which governed the Select Committee’s authority and ability to issue subpoenas and conduct depositions of witnesses,” Loudermilk argued in the brief filed with support from the America First Legal public interest law firm. “The House was not properly informed of this violation when it voted to hold Mr. Bannon in contempt.
“The Select Committee improperly sought to hold Mr. Bannon in contempt for refusing to appear for a deposition because the Select Committee did not have a Ranking Minority Member and, therefore, failed to comply with House Deposition Regulations and H. Res. 503 which required the Chairman of the Select Committee consult with the minority Ranking Member to conduct depositions in response to subpoenas,” it added.
“The Select Committee did not have a minority ranking member and therefore could not have complied with its mandate prior to eliciting deposition testimony. Thus, the Select Committee improperly asserted to the House that Mr. Bannon refused to appear for a duly executed deposition. … The Select Committee’s enforcement of the subpoena and the prosecution of Mr. Bannon for failing to participate in a deposition was factually and procedurally invalid. “
Pelosi rejected the House GOP’s candidates for the Jan. 6Â committee including a ranking member and instead handpicked Trump critic and GOP Rep. Liz Cheney to serve as Vice Chairwoman and another GOP Trump critic, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, to serve as a committee member.
Loudermilk said those two moves did not absolve Pelosi and the Democrat from having to follow the rules that then-House Democrat majority set for the Congress.
“House Democrats incorrectly asserted that Representative Cheney was the ranking minority member of the Select Committee. A ranking minority member is not just a member of the minority party but is a member of the minority party selected by the minority party to serve as a ranking minority member,” Loudermilk argued. “Although Representative Cheney was a member of the Republican party, she was not chosen by the minority as the Select Committee ranking minority member.”
Loudermilk’s motion to the court is separate of a plan announced Tuesday night by House Speaker Mike Johnson to have the House counsel file its own brief in the case making similar arguments.
Since Loudermilk took over the congressional Jan. 6 investigation when Republicans assumed control of the House in the 2023, he has exposed significant evidence of the intelligence and security failures that allowed the breach by rioters to occur as well as never-before scene video footage in which Pelosi blamed herself and staff for failling to have proper security that fateful day.
Loudermilk also has provided evidence suggesting the Democrat-run committee engaged in deception, including allowing former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson to offer hear-say testimony about the former president while delaying first-hand testimony from the Secret Service that directly contradicted her claims.
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John Solomon is an award-winning investigative journalist, author and digital media entrepreneur who serves as Chief Executive Officer and Editor in Chief of Just the News.
Photo “Stephen Bannon” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.Â
If Loudermilk prevails then Navarro must be released, too.