Speaker Mike Johnson and other House GOP leaders voted on Tuesday to challenge the previous Congress' handling of the January 6 select committee, aiming to aid Steve Bannon's appeal against his 2022 conviction for defying a subpoena from the panel.
The Republican leaders' vote made their position the formal stance of the House, enabling them to file a legal brief on behalf of the chamber, according to three sources familiar with the secret, party-line vote, initially reported by POLITICO.
The House GOP leaders' decision emerged from a vote by the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, a five-member panel consisting of Republican and Democratic leaders tasked with setting the chamber’s legal positions. This group includes Johnson, Scalise, Emmer, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Minority Whip Katherine Clark. Its Democratic members voted against supporting Bannon's position.
This action coincides with the Supreme Court approaching a decision on whether Bannon should be jailed starting July 1 or remain free while he appeals his conviction.
The Justice Department is expected to submit a brief on Wednesday urging Bannon's immediate imprisonment. Chief Justice John Roberts could decide the matter as soon as Wednesday afternoon or refer it to the full court for further review.
In a Wednesday morning statement, Speaker Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and Majority Whip Tom Emmer confirmed the closed-door vote. The House brief will be submitted to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is currently reviewing Bannon's broader effort to overturn his conviction.
The GOP leaders stated, “It will withdraw certain arguments made by the House earlier in the litigation about the organization of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol during the prior Congress.”
In October 2021, the House voted to hold Bannon in contempt of Congress after he failed to comply with a deposition and document subpoena. The Justice Department indicted him weeks later, and a jury convicted him in July 2022.
Georgia Rep. Barry Loudermilk, chair of a House Administration Committee’s oversight subcommittee, plans to file an amicus brief with the Supreme Court on Wednesday morning in support of Bannon. The brief, according to a Republican aide granted anonymity to discuss an unpublished legal filing, will argue that the Jan. 6 select committee lacked authority to conduct depositions under the House resolution that established it.
Loudermilk’s brief will focus on the requirement for consultation with a minority-appointed ranking member before conducting a deposition, a requirement he claims was unmet. The brief will address only the deposition issue and will not comment on the legality of the subpoena issued to Bannon.
Following his 2022 conviction, Bannon quickly appealed and has remained out of prison for the past two years. However, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who presided over Bannon’s trial, rescinded his decision to allow Bannon to remain free after a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decisively rejected Bannon's appeal.
