The Daily Fuckup

Steve Bannon did not show up for a deposition scheduled by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The committee’s subpoena, issued on Sept. 23, 2021, required Bannon to produce documents by Oct. 7 and appear for testimony on Oct. 14. When the clock hit 10 a.m. that day, he was absent. The committee later memorialized the proceeding as a “no-show” deposition and said Bannon had not produced any documents or appeared to testify. ([docs.house.gov](https://docs.house.gov/meetings/IJ/IJ00/20211019/114156/HRPT-117-NA.pdf))

That missed appearance mattered because it sharpened the committee’s case that Bannon was refusing to comply, not simply quarreling over scope. In the record the committee filed later, staff counsel said Bannon’s attorney had pointed to a letter from Donald Trump’s lawyer asserting executive privilege for certain material. But the committee’s chairman replied that Trump’s stated intention to assert privilege did not give Bannon a legal basis to skip the deposition altogether. The committee said Bannon should have shown up and raised objections to specific questions on the record. ([docs.house.gov](https://docs.house.gov/meetings/IJ/IJ00/20211019/114156/HRPT-117-NA.pdf))

The timeline is important. Oct. 14 was the missed-deposition day, not the day Congress formally voted on contempt. The committee held its business meeting on Oct. 19, 2021, to consider a report recommending that the House cite Bannon for criminal contempt of Congress, and the House later acted on that recommendation. The Justice Department then indicted Bannon on Nov. 12, 2021, on two contempt counts tied to his refusal to appear and his refusal to produce documents. ([docs.house.gov](https://docs.house.gov/Committee/Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=114156))

Politically, the episode handed the committee an easy-to-read noncompliance record. The subpoena, the missed deadline for documents, and the empty witness chair all lined up in the same direction. Whatever argument Bannon’s side wanted to make about privilege or presidential instructions, the committee had a straightforward paper trail showing that he did not come in, did not testify, and did not turn over the records the subpoena demanded. ([docs.house.gov](https://docs.house.gov/meetings/IJ/IJ00/20211019/114156/HRPT-117-NA.pdf))