HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.
![handle is hein.crs/govepii0001 and id is 1 raw text is: United States v. Bannon: Criminal Contempt
of Congress and Bad Faith
July 1, 2024
On May 10, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (D.C. Circuit) decided United States v.
Bannon, an appeal of Stephen Bannon's conviction under the criminal contempt of Congress statute,
2 U.S.C. § 192. Section 192 criminalizes willfully mak[ing] default on a congressional subpoena for
those who do not appear, or refusing to answer any question pertinent to the question under inquiry for
those who do appear.
At the heart of United States v. Bannon is whether willfully, as used in the statute, requires that the
defendant acted in bad faith in defaulting on a subpoena or if it requires only that the defendant
deliberately and intentionally refused to comply. Bannon urged the court to adopt the former
understanding, as he sought to invoke what is commonly known as the advice-of-counsel defense by
asserting that his attorney advised him that he did not have to respond to the subpoena and therefore
lacked the state of mind necessary to be convicted for a violation of § 192.
This Legal Sidebar briefly discusses the D.C. Circuit's decision and sets out several considerations for
Congress. A different Legal Sidebar provides specific informiation related to the Bannon indictment and
prosecution, and another Legal Sidebar discusses contempt of Congress in more detail.
Background
On June 30, 2021, the House of Representatives adopted House Resolution 503, which established the
Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Select Committee).
The resolution empowered the Select Committee to investigate and report on the facts, circumstances,
and causes of the events of January 6, and to subpoena witnesses for testimony or documents. Pursuant
to this authority, the Select Committee issued a subpoena to Bannon, who served as an advisor to
President Donald Trump for approximately seven months in 2017. Bannon was, on January 6, 2021, a
private citizen.
The subpoena sought documents and testimony from Bannon pertaining to seventeen categories of
information dating from 2020 and 2021. Three of these categories involved communications between
Bannon and President Trump. The remaining categories related to Bannon's communications with other
executive branch officials, staffofthe Trump campaign, or private citizens. Bannon did not comply by the
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
LSB11190
CRS Legal Sidebar
Prepared for Members and
Committees of Congress](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/govepii0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)