over throw of an american election but also to preserve american democracy period. every day it seems like more new video emerges from january 6th including this closeup view from "the new york times" showing the mayhem at the front lines of the capitol and given how just insane what we witnessed that day was and all that we have learned in the months since, the simple fact is it actually just has to be illegal to try to over throw the government full stop. but if it isn't illegal, if what we saw on january 6th didn't include major crimes against the united states, there really is no united states. there is no democracy. donald trump tried to overturn a free and fair election. he did it overtly and covertly. he tried to under cut the election on the front end. tried to get ukraine to announce a fake investigation and lied about mail in voting and on and on and on and tried to undo it on the back end. first, he tried to nullify the electoral votes from the multiple states and when that didn't work out, he summoned a violent mob that laid siege to our capitol to try to intimidate congress into not certifying biden's win and we know that happened because we watched that happen and now this country must ensure that it will never happen again, which is why any witness who defies or obstructs this committee's investigation has got to be prosecuted. which is why the committee will vote tonight on a 26-page report that outlines the case for contempt against bannon and spotlights the role he appears to have played in the events of january 6th. the report highlights that bannon reportedly spoke to donald trump on one or more occasions regarding what could or should happen on january 6th and it mention as series of war room meetings at the willard hotel in washington d.c. where bannon reportedly gathered with trump lawyers rudy giuliani and john eastman, the author of the memo "how to steal the election" and dirty trickster roger stone and trump campaign officials. at that meeting, the participants reportedly discussed plans to stop ordeal lay the january 6th counting of the election results and persuade members of congress to block the electoral count. persuade members of congress to block the electoral count. most alarming of all, is that bannon's statements on january 5th suggested he had foreknowledge about events that might occur the next day with ominous and accurate prediction all hell is going to break loose. >> all hell is going to break loose tomorrow. just understand this. all hell is going to break loose tomorrow. it's going to be moving. it's going to be quick. >> of course, all hell did break loose that day. we saw it. now bannon is avoiding responsibility saying the guy who was president and already said no. in a letter to bannon's lawyer the deputy white house counsel said one more time for everybody in the back, we are not aware of any basis for your client's refusal to appear for a deposition. yesterday, bannon also tried to delay tonight's contempt proceedings by a week siting the lawsuit and needless to say, that request was not granted. the committee will be moving forward within the hour and after tonight's vote, the measure then goes to the full house if and when it gets passed there it gets transmitted to the justice department, which will then decide whether to bring charges or whether to let bannon basically trump get away with it, again. joining me advisor to the d triple c and maya wiley, former new york city candidate and former federal prosecutor and i'm going to start with glen. losing my control of the language now. glen, i -- you know, if i sound exasperated, it's because there is still an open question as to whether it is strictly illegal to try to overturn an american election. do you agree with me that what happens tonight in this vote and what the doj does about it, if and when it passes, it answers that question and that question is the fundamental question about our democracy right now? >> and joy, we all know the answer to that question so it is put up or shut up time and it looks like congress is ready to put up and then it will shift over to the department of justice. i predict they will also be ready to put up. what will put up look like? it will look like under the federal law a referral of the contempt vote, which is a forgone conclusion we all believe to the u.s. attorney for the district of colombia, the law says that he then shall present this matter to the grand jury for its action because donald trump hasn't even tried to invoke executive privilege with respect to conversations with steve bannon, steve bannon has no factual defense. steve bannon has no legal defense and the grand jury should indict steve bannon for criminal contempt of congress. >> maya, i mean, steve bannon hasn't been working the white house since 2017. he was long gone by the time he was having these conversations. he was already out. trump got mad because he cooperated in books and gave quotes. he was not involved at all in the trump administration by the time january 6th, 2021 happened so he's not even close to where he could get an executive privilege claim. the fact he's doing it says to me inparting upon himself the immunity trump has been used to and say i'll maybe wait it out. maybe i'll go ahead and violate this law. maybe i'll go to jail and i'll just take it because he's operating under the same crazy fox news world assumption that he can just wait it out, thug it out, go to jail and donald trump will magically come back into power or come back into power because they steal the election and pardon him. if he's thinking that, would he be crazy to think that? >> you know, well, the short answer is all of this is a stalling tactic. i mean, as you said, there is no executive privilege here and there is no defense for steve bannon, but the point is they're trying to run out the clock and this will go through a judicial process and the wheels of justice can turn too slowly when we have the kind of election cycle we're looking at right now and that is exactly what they're banking on. they're not banking on legal arguments that hold any water. frankly, they're just banking on the thuggery they were banking on on january 6th, and the really important thing to note here is even though there is going to be a process and we are all going to be frustrated by the length of it, it is critically important that the committee take this vote. it is critically important they say no, you won't because frankly, the reason that we're in this situation right now is because donald trump's administration broke the constitutional balance of power in his term as president and just remember, it was ronald reagan under scrutiny from congress that said i won't even try to raise executive privilege because it's too important to the country. ronald reagan, so this really shouldn't be about partisan politics, it should be about the institutions of democracy and that's why this vote is still going to matter tonight. >> i mean, susan mcdougal spent time in prison for contempt of congress in the white water case, which is a nothing case. they impeached clinton. what they're counting on it seems to me is they are trying to thug it out. they think the under thug kevin mccarthy who is a complete weakling and has no spinal defense against donald trump will be speaker and he can wipe it away. that's what they're thinking. they're like we'll thug it out because our guys will be in charge soon. >> that's exactly right, joy. i think it's important to talk about some of these other republican members of congress that enabled this to happen in the first place. people like kevin mccarthy. people like the congressional committee chairman and congressman scott perry from pennsylvania. there is an entire chapter about scott perry and senate judiciary committee report about january 6th, the planning into it and republican donors that funded this thing and also fund republican members of congress. there is so much here that needs to be reality is, the enemy is truly within. the enemy is and the house of representatives right now. there are people who helped plan this, coordinate this. we have the open question about what members of congress help give recorecon. there are two things congress needs to do. number one, they need to act on new enforcement authority and give themselves the tools to enforce their oversight in realtime. they need to pass something that gives them fast track authority with the courts and number two, there is something called inherent contempt where they can throw steve bannon in jail now and force him to sit there until he provides the documents, emails and testimony. he might get criminal contempt and be prosecuted. i want a process that ensures we get the information because we need to know what went into january 6th if we have any chance of avoiding another one. >> indeed. he might manafort it out. you mentioned representative scott parry, why is bannon important? it covers any communications he might have had but michael flynn who we know was the disgraced former military man who now is a trump lack. sydney powell, kash patel who was subpoenaed, representative scott sperry, the proud boys, the oath keepers, the 3%ers. he was talking to principals. one more thing, we know senate republicans to the point we heard curt making, they're already blocking biden being able to put a permanent person in place to prosecute these january 6th thugs, the ones at the capitol. they're blocking it. nobody knows what the objection is. they're blocking it. they're already throwing sand in the wheels and there are people that need to be talked to including congress members. your thoughts? >> yeah, i work with matt at the attorney's office. he's a very good strong, honest, ethical prosecutor and he should be confirmed as u.s. attorney. we have channing phillips who i worked with for decades. he is also a very good strong prosecutor. the dcus attorney's office will be in good hands but joy, all of those names you just ran through, people that steve bannon can provide incriminating information about is what makes steve bannon a big ticket witness and if there is any good news with this criminal contempt referral and likely indictment of steve bannon, once the grand jury is invest gating steve bannon's criminal contempt, you know what else they have to investigate that goes along with every criminal investigation in the grand jury? motive. why might he be willing to suffer a contempt charge rather than testify before congress? simple. he doesn't want to incriminate donald trump. why? in part because donald trump was the one who saved him by giving him a pardon after he stole money with his bogus rebuild the wall foundation. donald trump pardoned him. talk about powerful motive to cover up donald trump's crime and let me finish with this, joy. you know what that makes donald trump in the upcoming grand jury investigation of steve bannon's criminal contempt? it makes him a subject of the grand jury's investigation. that's a term of heart. meaning you are someone, you're not the target, steve bannon is the target but you're someone who may have criminal exposure in connection with the investigating we are conducting. so hold on tight for this grand jury investigation. >> what worries me about that, maya, you know, this sounds like what the michael cohen case. everyone knows who the person is for whom michael cohen was writing those checks to stormy daniels. it was donald trump. he's subject number one wherever he's listed and walks away and that's what worries people is that this man lived 73 or however many years with impunity and people wonder when that's going to end. >> well, there is one key difference, donald trump was president. he is no longer president right now so i think to glen's point, it does make a difference if he starts to get implicated in something that is an existing grand jury as is a regular ol' person walking up and down the street. now, i think the other critical point here is he is absolutely going to get scrutiny, if, if this committee continues to be aggressive. because frankly, there is no reason they cannot subpoena him. and remember that executive privilege is the weakest privilege there is. meaning, it is -- we don't know what the supreme court would do but i'd love to see the litigation party that would happen around subpoenaing donald trump. so look, i think what is critical here is the democrats have to go hard and they have to do it in the interest of protecting the institution. >> let's read what the white house said about this idea of suing the january 6th committee, this idea whether he can hide his information representing a unique threat to the democracy and cannot be swept under the rug as president biden determined the constitutional protections cannot be used to shield. there is the justice deputy, an uncharacteristically tough statement. they said the risk of future violence is fueled by a population that seemed intent on lionizing the january 6th rioters and treating them as political prisoners, martyrs or heroes and attacked the democratic values, which all of us should share and curt, you know one of the people lonizing those people and have a belief in the way america should be run and try to make trump his vehicle and that is steve bannon. in your view, is he the type of person that would be willing to go to jail to keep the secrets of what he and donald trump and others plotted on january 6th? >> you know, i think that steve bannon much like donald trump is all about bravado and big talk but it's a different thing when you're facing actual consequences and to this point bannon is getting away with it because the trump pardon. the one thing we've seen about the men, you can't trust them as far as you can throw them. their just as likely to turn on each other in a moment's notice because they have no honor or moral code. they're only in it for themselves as long as their relationship is perceived as mutually beneficial. not too long ago trump was on twitter calling him sloppy steve and steve had to spend years traveling around the globe trying to reinvent himself. it's like you just never know with these type of characters what is going to happen. i think one thing that's important as this process plays out, it's such a viability. republicans have high hopes of taking back congress in 2022 but every time they take a vote and a house wide vote on thursday for contempt. when they let someone like steve bannon off and the facts come out and the grand jury comes together and learn the tally of what happened, that vote is going to hang around the necks of like andy harris or scott fitzpatrick. i wouldn't want to take the vote to exonerate steve bannon after contempt goes to the house floor. >> we'll keep y'all around. we'll keep you guys around because there is a lot to come later on. i have many more questions for you. as we await the start of tonight's meeting of january 6th select committee that will vote whether to recommend criminal contempt charges which iscommit subpoena, we'll bring that to you live. eric swalwell and why the democrats cannot allow the people that encouraged, planned and carried out the january 6th insurrection to get away with it. "the reidout" continues after this. ever "the reidout" continues teafr this ever when our daughter and her kids moved in with us... our bargain detergent couldn't keep up. turns out it's mostly water. so, we switched back to tide. one wash, stains are gone. [daughter] slurping don't pay for water. pay for clean. it's got to be tide. i brought in ensure max protein, with thirty grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks! ( sighs wearily ) here, i'll take that! ( excited yell ) woo-hoo! ensure max protein. with thirty grams of protein, one-gram of sugar, and nutrients to support immune health! ( abbot sonic ) >> tech: when you get a chip in your windshield... trust safelite.to support immune health! this couple was headed to the farmers market... when they got a chip. they drove to safelite for a same-day repair. and with their insurance, it was no cost to them. >> woman: really? >> tech: that's service the way you need it. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ i've got moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months, after just 2 doses. skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches, or coughs or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. ♪nothing is everything♪ talk to your dermatologist about skyrizi. learn how abbvie could help you save. ♪darling, i, i can't get enough of your love babe♪ ♪girl, i don't know, i don't know,♪ ♪i don't know why i can't get enough of your love babe♪ ♪oh no, babe girl, if i could only make you see♪ ♪and make you understand♪ get a dozen double crunch shrimp for $1 with any steak entrée. only at applebee's. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. fine, no one leaves the table until your finished. with any steak entrée. fine, we'll sleep here. ♪♪ it's the easiest because it's the cheesiest. kraft. for the win win. as a dj, i know all about customization. that's why i love liberty mutual. they customize my car insurance, so i only pay for what i need. how about a throwback? you got it. ♪ liberty, liberty - liberty, liberty ♪ uh, i'll settle for something i can dance to. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ ♪ ♪ only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ it's another day. and anything could happen. it could be the day you welcome 1,200 guests and all their devices. or it could be the day there's a cyberthreat. only comcast business' secure network solutions give you the power of sd-wan and advanced security integrated on our activecore platform so you can control your network from anywhere, anytime. it's network management redefined. every day in business is a big day. we'll keep you ready for what's next. comcast business powering possibilities. . welcome back, we're moments away from the january 6th committee which will volt whether to advance an effort to hold steve bannon in contempt of congress. this is the first deadline, the second larger deadline is november 2022 and that is when we will know if republicans will take control of the house, which wouldeffectively put a stop to the twice impeached president in the january 6th insurrection. it shouldn't surprise you a republican lead house would do everything in its power to obstruct justice given the unwavering admiration of the former president and the fact some of them would be more than embarrassed by the investigation. it should also come as no surprise that trump is looking to throw sand and rocks and every other obstruction in the way of the investigation given that he has lived his entire life with impunity openly flaunting the laws as if the rules don't apply to him and let's be honest, at this point it's a strategy proven rather effective. there is no reason to believe that trump or any of his minions are working in good faith with the committee. instead, they are playing the longer game, which has been fruitful because as bump notes, in the battle between american institutions and trump, the former has repeatedly proved to be mostly impotent. with me nownow, eric swalwell. impeachment couldn't stop him. a second impeachment couldn't stop him. the clause didn't even -- that didn't even phase him. he literally leased a hotel from the general accounting office from the united states government while he was president violated multiple laws while he was president. and walked away and went and played golf. so i think that's what frustrates people -- >> you also have convention -- he had a convention -- he had a national convention on the white house lawn. to just add to your list. >> and he has a body count of more than a half a million americans right now in brazil charges of mass homicide for doing exactly what trump did here. so i wonder, i think people at this point don't think the institutions are capable of rating someone like him in. what do you think? >> it's frustrating but the best constraint on donald trump is the law and the law moves not nearly at the pace of trump's corruption. that is what is frustrating. i got a lawsuit against donald trump. many capitol police officers have lawsuits against donald trump. we're moving toward a big ruling on that lawsuit and we hope he'll face the deposition and discovery requests as he faced earlier this week and so i think you're going to see pretty soon this, you know, buildup to, you know, donald trump finally being held to account by the law but tonight, january 6th commission is going to say donald trump, steve bannon, everyone who is part of the insurrection on january 6th, you're not above the law and if your viewers, joy, would refuse to compile with the subpoena in their own local court, they would be brought in by a judge in a jump suit and asked why they think they're above the law and we're saying that steve bannon and anyone else should be treated the same way. >> you're a prosecutor. there is something called inter rent content. do you think it's a mistake to go through the process and rely on the department of justice? merrick garland isn't an aggressive man when it comes to holding donald trump or any of the people involved in what amounts to threats of violence against our citizenry, against members of congress and our democracy. he hasn't exactly been aggressive. should congress take it upon themselves and throw steve bannon in the jail under the capitol? >> we should pass legislation that would put in place inherent contempt. i'm an original sponsor of it. that's one way to do this. without the senate, you know, on board to also assist us in giving us that leverage, we should encourage merrick garland to treat donald trump no better but no worse than any other person who would be evaluated by the department of justice. he'll testify on thursday to the judiciary committee and that's one of the questions we'll have. will you agree that he should be treated no better, no worse and not just sweep this under the rug because for the sake of moving on, we would be better off. we're not better off if we don't recognize that he took a wrecking ball to every institution we value in this country and if he broke the law, he has to be held to account. >> what happens if kevin mccarthy becomes speaker, god forbid? happens to this investigation? kevin mccarthy might be a witness according to liz china. he might be implicated and someone who has to testify. what happens? will he be allowed to thwart this investigation with the speaker's gavel in his hand? >> what happens if kevin mccarthy is speaker in the january 6th issues are not resolved, well, first and foremost, congressional gold medals will be given to the cop-killers of january 6th. i promise you that. second, he will erase the history of the cop heroes like michael fanone, who he refused to meet with for so long and harry dunn and sergeant ginel. a probe will go away and he'll set the stage for january 6th, 2025 being the bloodiest day ever at the capitol because i promise you, they are setting in place a posture in this country where they will not accept majority rule and this will be again, setting the stage for a day even worse than january 6th. that's what is at stake now. >> "the new yorker" wrote a piece and said trump's trials will establish another point. the overall weakness of impeachment as a device in the presidency, if any weapon so i wonder if you think it's time for congress to look at its inherent powers in a broader way and seize back power because it does feel like the presidents see itself reached the point if you have a bad actor in it, if you have somebody that. -- wants to be an autocrat, there aren't many ways to stop them. are you concerned they haven't let go too constitutionally? >> donald trump is not president. nothing about the constraints we could put an abusive executive has changed and we were always spared by donald trump's incompetency but always scared by his corrupt instincts. there will be a future corrupt but competent leader that comes along and if we're not ready and learn what donald trump did and put in more constraints, it will be at our own country's peril. it seeks to repair the damage donald trump did and we should pass that yesterday. >> maybe ask some of the coal barons if they will let joe mansion and sinema, sorry, editorial comment on my part. we have a bunker on january 6th and wonder if they should revisit their vote. tuberville said no. he said i wasn't voting for me. i was voting for the people of alabama. president trump is an 80% approval rating there. i said i'll vote how you want me to vote because people in alabama like donald trump. he was willing to subvert the election. two members that don't seem to give a damn, how do we save the republic. >> we need more people like kinzinger and they follow their conscience. they follow the constitution. they care about the country and senator tuberville in the first day failed the most basic test, are you taking votes because it's just, you know, which way the wind blows or are you taking votes because your conscious, your country and constitution dictated it? he failed every day since and until we see more integrity among the republican party, their party is lost. >> i think a lot of people are giving you a high five on that and amen. congressman eric swalwell, thank you so much. appreciate you spending time with us. i want to bring back a dccc advisor and former federal prosecutor glenn. you can see this meeting starting to get ready to take place. curt, this is a familiar location for you because you were staffed for awhile in the congress. we're watching this meeting start to take place. give us a sense in your mind how important is this day as we kind of reflect on where we are since january 1st. how important it is that we publicly see this happening and see congress trying to hold at least one of these january 6th actors to account? >> i think this is going to be an important chapter in the story of the defense of our democracy and the effort to restore actual checks and balances to our country's process, checks and balances completely wrecked by four years of donald trump. and i'm going to be really interested to hear what the members say, both people like jamie raskin, people like bennie thompson, people like liz cheney, what their remarks will be as they prepare to take this very important and really historic vote. and i think again, you know, i spent the better part of today thinking about one of the times that republicans held a member of the obama administration in contempt and it was jim jordan who said the only path to the truth is through the house of representatives. and as i watched these proceedings unfold and i watched people like jim jordan sit these proceedings out, people so eager to be part of benghazi, that select committee, the republicans forfeited their right to be there taking the lead of kevin mccarthy but what happened to the ones pushing for aggressive oversight for accountability? we said the american people have a right to know what happens in their government, how power is utilized and weaponized and used as an instrument by bad actors, where did they go? they can't bothered to be seen or heard to talk about the things that they were so happy to talk about when barack obama was president. >> yeah, benghazi was involved democrats and it was, you know, five people tragically died. it was horrific. if you look at this, as many people died as a result of what happened january 6th and republicans don't mind at all and many of them were law enforcement. they don't mind at all. maya wiley you ran for office and you understand that when one runs for office, the presumption is win or lose you accept the results and accept this is part of democracy and then don't try to turnover the tables and burn the place down because you didn't win. that's not the way it works. you support the incoming government. talk a little bit about the fact that we do have a political party that's decided that's not good enough anymore, they either win or burn it down or they sit back and they watch their people burn it down and, you know, defecate in the capitol and urinate in the capitol and urinate on our democracy simply because they couldn't win an election, your genie the republican party let out of the bottle when they decided to embrace president trump when you remember during the first election, 2015, you know, moon walking and distancing themselves from because they thought anybody who was doing the kinds of things that he was doing on the campaign trail from inciting violence to having the tape come out about him grabbing and sexual assaulting women could not win and would be bad for them politically. when that turned out not to be true, then they made their deal with the devil. you know, what they basically said was all right, we're all in it. we've seen that and that means right now what happened is they enabled their own power, the power of the institution they got elected to lead in, they have allowed it to be undermined but i think the problem here is what they're really saying is, you know, we will lose the power that we have in congress if we have the majority for our own power. i think that is the most devastating statement anyone can make about a democracy because when you seek public office, what you're actually doing is asking to borrow the power of the people to use it for their benefit and so you break not just your oath of office but you actually break the sacred trust and democracy can't survive that way so it's critically important to stand up for the institution and stand up for the people, rather than stand up for the personal interest of donald trump. >> yeah, i mean, glen, the idea that the law only applies to those on the other side of you but it doesn't apply to you, that is sort of core fascism and we have a situation where no one can be confident if republicans take back control of the government they will pursue and continue to pursue and continue to encourage the pursuit of an investigation into an attack on them, an attack on their persons and their staff on the 20 somethings who work for kevin mccarthy who work for them, who work for, you know, mitt romney and mitch mcconnell. their own staff is at risk of dying, were terrified. they don't care. none of them do. i wonder what that does say about whether the rule of law exists if only one political party believes in it? >> no, no respect for the rule of law if it's deployed selectively, right? if you stop investigating and prosecuting bank robbers, what are you going to see? a whole lot more bank robberies and, you know, curt and maya are political experts but the conversation you and maya just had, what happens if the crimes against our democracy by donald trump, steve bannon and others go unprosecuted. what will become extinct are republican concession speeches because they will never again admit they lost. they will somehow wrestle, you know, away from the majority of the voters, the election and they will declare themselves the winners. >> let me interrupt you, glen because we do have -- that is chairman bennie thompson. he took his seat. you saw jamie raskin. you see liz cheney and adam kin zeng -- kinzinger filing in. they are seated. let's take a listen to what they are saying. the select committee to investigate the january 6th attack on the united states capitol will come to order. the select committee is meeting this evening to consider a report on a resolution recommending that the house of representatives find steven k. bannon in contempt of congress for refusing to compile with a subpoena duly issued by the committee to investigate the january 6th attack on the united states capitol. without objection, the chair authorized to declare the committee in recess at any time. i'll now recognize myself for an opening statement. let me start by saying that it gives me no joy that i've been forced to call this meeting. i think my colleagues feel the same way. the expectation of this committee is that all witnesses will cooperate with our investigation. witnesses who have been subpoenaed, have a legal obligation to do so. and whether you think about what we're investigating, a violent attack on the seat of our democracy perpetrated by a fellow citizen on our constitution, an attempt to stop the certification of an election. it's shocking to me, shocking that anyone would not do anything in their power to assist our investigation. so it's a shame that mr. bannon put us in this position but we won't take no for an answer. we believe mr. bannon has information relevant to our probe and will use the tools at our disposal to get that information. i expect that the house will quickly adopt this referral through the justice department and that the u.s. attorney will do his duty and prosecute mr. bannon for criminal contempt of congress. our goal is simple. we want mr. bannon to answer our questions. we want him to turnover whatever records he possessed that are relevant to the select committee's investigation. the issue in front of us today is our ability to do our job. it's about fulfilling our responsibilities according to house resolution 503, to provide the american people answers about what happened on january 6th and help ensure nothing like that day ever happens again. we fulfill our responsibilities by discovering the facts behind the january 6th attack so that congress can consider legislation with a full understanding of the activities that led to an attack on congress itself. i want to make it clear just how isolated mr. bannon is in his refusal to cooperate with the select committee. we've reached out to dozens of witnesses. we are taking in thousands of pages of records. we're conducting interviews on a steady basis. this is the shoe leather work of conducting a serious focused investigation. it's not flashy but it gets results. it's essential we get mr. bannon's factual and complete testimony to get a full account of what happened on january 6th and its causes. mr. bannon stands a i loan in his complete dfiance of our subpoena, that's not acre -- acceptable. no one in this country no matter how wealthy or powerful is above the law. left unaddressed, this defiance may encourage others to follow mr. bannon down the same path. for folks watching at home this evening, i want you to think about something. what would happen to you if you did what mr. bannon is doing? if you were a material witness in a criminal prosecution of some other lawsuit, what would happen if you refused to show up? do you think you'd be able to just go about your business? we all know the answer to that. there isn't a different set of rules for mr. bannon. he knows this. he knows that there are consequences for out right defiance and he's chosen the path toward criminal contempt by taking this position. and there are better matters at stake. one of the major questions the select committee is dealing with is whether the rule of law will be able to endure as a pillar of american democracy. after all, we've seen the rule of law put to the test repeatedly in our recent past while we don't know all the facts, we do know that there was a powerful push to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 election. americans have been and continue to be lied to about that. we know that ultimately, there was a violent attack that interfered with the peaceful transfer of power from one president to another. we know that lies about the outcome of that election haven't gone away. and now we have a key witness who is flat out refusing to compile with the congressional subpoena and cooperate with our investigation. the rule of law remains under attack right now. if there are no accountability for these abuses, if there are different sets of rules for different types of people then our democracy is in serious trouble. as chair of this committee, i won't allow further harm through the rule of law in the course of our work. mr. bannon will compile with our investigation or he will face the consequences. maybe he's willing to be a martyr to a disgraceful cause of whitewashing what happened on january 6th or demonstrating his complete loyalty to the former president. so i want our witnesses to understand something very plainly, if you're thinking of following the path mr. bannon has gone down, you're on notice this is what you'll face. the process we begun tonight is a grave one. it seldom happens, and we'd rather avoid itreserved just foe bannon. if they fail to compile, we'll be back in this room with the names of whoever else that mistakenly believes they are above the law. we hope no other witnesses put themselves in the situation mr. bannon has through his own conduct but we cannot allow anyone to stand in the way of the select committee as we work to get to the facts. the stakes are just too high. we won't be deterred. we won't be distracted. and we won't be delayed. i urge my colleagues to support the favorable adoption of this report. it's now my pleasure to yield to the distinguished vice chair, my friend ms. cheney of wyoming for any statement she would care to offer. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. on january 6th, a mob breached the security perimeter of our capitol, assaulted and injured more than 140 police officers, engaged in hand to hand violence over an extended period and invaded and occupied the united states capitol building all in an effort to halt the lawful counts of electoral votes and reverse the results of the 2020 election. the day before this all occurred on january 5th, mr. bannon publicly professed knowledge that quote all hell is going to break loose tomorrow, end quote. he forecast that the day would be quote extraordinary different than what most americans expected. he said to his listeners and his viewers, quote, so many people said if i was in a revolution, i would be in washington. well, he said, this is your time in history. based on the committee's investigation, it appears that mr. bannon had substantial advanced knowledge of the plans for january 6th, and likely, had an important role in formulating those plans. mr. bannon was in the war room at the willard on january 6th. he also appears to have detailed knowledge regarding the president's efforts to sell millions of americans the fraud that the election was stolen. in the words of many who participated in the january 6th attack, the violence that day was in direct response to president trump's repeated claims from election night through january 6th that he had won the election. the american people are entitled to mr. bannon's firsthand testimony about all of these relevant facts. but as the chairman noted, mr. bannon is refusing to provide it. preserving our constitution and the rule of law is a central purpose of this investigation. the plain fact here is that mr. bannon has no legal right to ignore the committee's lawful subpoena. so far mr. bannon's excuse is that former president trump wishes to invoke some form of executive privilege where a subset of the relevant topics, president trump's direct communications with mr. bannon regarding the planning for january 6th. this information should not be subject to any privilege at all and certainly there is no basis for absolute or unqualified privilege for presidential communications. more important now there is no conceivably applicable privilege that could shield mr. bannon from testimony on all of the other topics identified in this committee's subpoena. because he is categorically refused to appear, we have no choice but to seek consequences for mr. bannon's failure to compile. those consequences are not just important for this investigation, they are important for all congressional investigations. mr. bannon's and mr. trump's privilege arguments do however appear to reveal one thing, they suggest that president trump was personally involved in the planning and execution of january 6th. and this committee will get to the bottom of that. let me add one further thought, principally from my colleagues. we believe america is one of the greatest things on god's earth. truth, justice and the constitution have made america great. almost every one of my colleagues knows in your hearts that what happened on january 6th was profoundly wrong. you-all know that there is no evidence of wide spread election fraud sufficient to have changed the results of the election. you-all know that the dominion voting machines voting machines were not corrupted by a foreign power. you know these claims are false, yet former president trump repeats them almost daily, and he has now urged republicans not to vote in 2022 and 2024. this is a prescription for national self-destruction. i ask my colleagues, please consider the fundamental questions of right and wrong here. the american people must know what happened. know must know the truth. all of us who are elected officials must do our duty to prevent the dismantling of the rule of law and to ensure that nothing like that dark day in january ever happens again. thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. >> pursuant to notice, i now call up the report on a resolution recommending that the house of representatives find steven k. bannon in contempt of congressional for refusal to comply with a subpoena duly issued by the select committee to investigate the january 6th attack on the united states capitol. a report was circulated in advance and printed copies are available. the clerk shall designate the report. >> report on a resolution recommending that the house of representatives find steven k. bannon in contempt of congress for refusal to comply with the subpoena duly issued by the select committee to investigate the january 6th attack on the united states capitol. >> without objection, the report will be considered as read and opened to amendments at any time. i recognize myself for the purpose of offering an amendment in the nature of a substitute now at the desk. the clerk shall report the amendment. >> amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by mr. thompson of mississippi. >> without objection, the meant will be considered as read and considered base text of purposes of further amendment. i'll now recognize myself to explain the amendment. yesterday evening counsel to mr. bannon requested a one-week adjournment of our response a letter i wrote on october 15th which stated that mr. bannon's willful defiance of the select committee's subpoena would lead to tonight's hearing. without objection i included my october 15th letter in the record as well as yesterday's letter from robert j. costello, mr. bannon's attorney. mr. bannon's attorney said they needed time to, quote, assess the select committee's request in light of litigation filed by former president trump and in the district of columbia district court yesterday. however, the former president's lawsuit is immaterial to mr. bannon's defiance of our lawful subpoena. i made that clear in a letter to mr. costello this morning. without objections, my letter is in the record. furthermore, the white house yesterday issued a letter to mr. bannon's attorney stating, quote, we are not aware of any basis for your client's refusal to appear for a deposition, end quote. before the select committee and further said that, quote, president biden has already determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the public interest and, therefore, is not justified with respect to certain subjects within the purview of the select committee, end quote. without objection, i include the full white house letter in the record. this amendment in the nature of a substitute updates the report to reflect these developments, and it's now even clearer that mr. bannon has no lawful grounds not to comply with our subpoena. if there is no further debate, the question is on agreeing to the amendment in the nature of a substitute. those in favor say aye. those opposed say no. an opinion of the chair is that the ayes have it and the amendment in the nature of a substitute is agreed to. i now recognize the vice-chair, miss cheney, for a motion. >> mr. chairman, i move that committee favorably report to the house the committee's report on a resolution recommending that the house of representatives find steven k. bannon in contempt of congress for refusal to comply with the subpoena duly issued by the select committee to investigate the january 6th attack on the united states capitol as amended. >> the question on the motion is favorably report to the house. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. >> mr. chairman, i request a recorded vote. >> a recorded vote is requested. the clerk will call the roll. >> miss cheney. >> aye. >> miss lofgren. >> yes. >> mr. schiff. >> aye. >> mr. schiff aye. mr. aguilar. >> aye. >> mrs. murphy. >> aye. >> mr. raskin. >> aye. mr. raskin aye. mrs. luria. >> aye. >> mr. kinzinger. >> aye. >> mr. kinzinger aye. >> how is the chair recorded? >> mr. chairman, you are not recorded. >> i vote aye. >> mr. chairman, aye. >> the clerk will report the vote. >> mr. chairman, on this vote there are nine ayes, zero no's. >> the motion is agreed to. the vice-chair is recognized. >> mr. chairman, pursuant to clause 2 l of rule 11, i request that members have two calendar days to file with the clerk of the committee sub mental or additional views on the measure order reported by the commit tonight. >> so ordered. without objection, staff is authorized to make any necessary technical or conforming changes to the report to reflect the actions of the committee. there being no further business, without objection, the select committee stands adjourned. >> and that is a wrap. the committee adjourns. nine members unanimously vote to favorably recommend that the house of representatives vote through contempt charges against steve bannon. the members of the committee, who you saw, bennie thompson, for mississippi, who was the chair, zoe lofgren of california, adam schiff of can california, pete aguilar of california, jamie raskin, two republicans, liz cheney, the vice-chair of this committee from wyoming and adam kinzinger of illinois all unanimous, very quickly review what was said. chairman thompson saying he takes no joy doing what they did tonight, but asks those of you at home what would happen to you if you did what steve bannon is to go? if you were a material witness in a criminal prosecution or some other lawsuit, what would happen if you just refused to show up? do you think you would be able to go about your business? we all know the answer to that. he suggested steve bannon is willing to be a martyr to the disgraceful wall of whitewashing what happened on january 6th and demonstrating his complete loyalty to the former president. he warned other witnesses to understand plainly, he said, if you are thinking of following the path mr. bannon has gone down, you are on notice that this is what you will face. saying there is -- there are consequence toss refusing to comply. i want to very quickly also get into what liz cheney said. and i think her appeal to the self-interest of republicans i think was interesting. she said to her fellow republicans, you know in your hearts that what happened on january 6th was profoundly wrong. you know there is no evidence of widespread election fraud sufficient to overturn the election. you know the dominion voting machines were not corrupted. you know those claims are false. yet trump repeats them almost daily. and she urged republicans to really look to their consciences and understand the severe consequences of going along with what donald trump did. she also laid out a pretty strong prosectorial case against steve bannon saying that it was clear he had direct communications with donald trump, that the communications between them appeared to have been direct, that he knew what was coming, that he knew what was going to happen on january 6th, and, therefore, he has direct evidence to give to this committee and she all but demanded he give it. we have a short time. glenn kirschner, that last prosecution there, your thoughts? >> yeah, i mean, steve bannon has no factual defense, no legal defense. it was nice to see some republicans and democrats come together and fight together to try to save democracy and now we will have to look to the full house vote. >> kurt. we don't have much time. i thank you all for joining us tonight. for this broadcast. "all in" with chris hayes will fick it up on the other side of the break. no, no, no break. >> appreciate it. the bipartisan house select committee investigating the january 6th insurrection just voted unanimously to advance an effort to hold former top trump advisor steve bannon in criminal contempt of congress over his refusal to cooperate with subpoenas for documents and testimony related to that riot. the matter is now set to go to the full house for a vote possibly as early as this week. if it passes the house and it is expected to, a criminal referral will then be sent to the u.s. attorney's office in d.c. which will