⚖️ Contempt of Congress: Bannon got 4 months, Holder no charges

Holder, held in contempt 255–67 in 2012, faced no criminal charges. Bannon was convicted and jailed; he says he relied on his lawyers. 📌

By , money desk · Desk editor Laima Ērkšķe-Kreicberga · · 6 min read

Steve BannonON RECORDPhoto: Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Desaturated and cropped by MrScandal.

What we know

  • A federal jury convicted Steve Bannon on July 22, 2022 of two counts of contempt of Congress, and he was sentenced on Oct. 21, 2022 to four months and a $6,500 fine, the U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C. said.
  • The House voted 255–67 on June 28, 2012 on a resolution to find Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt, per the House Clerk's roll call; CBS News reports neither Holder nor Bill Barr faced criminal charges from their own Justice Departments.
  • Rita Lavelle, a Reagan-era EPA official, was found not guilty of contempt in July 1983 but was later convicted of lying to Congress and sentenced to six months and a $10,000 fine, The Washington Post and The New York Times reported.
  • A 2017 Congressional Research Service report says criminal contempt against an executive branch official will likely prove unavailing in many, if not most, circumstances.
  • White House Counsel Will Scharf wrote to incoming Oversight Chairman Robert Garcia on Wednesday that the administration will not be extorted, The New York Post reported; Garcia replied that Congress will not be deterred.

White House Counsel Will Scharf wrote to incoming House Oversight Chairman Robert Garcia on Wednesday that "the administration will not be extorted and will not be cowed," The New York Post reported. Scharf added that process designed "merely to abuse or instill fear in the recipient may cross the line into blatant criminality." Garcia answered that Congress is "a co-equal branch of government and will not be deterred by baseless threats." The record of what happens when Congress actually reaches for contempt is longer than the rhetoric, and cheaper for the defendant than you might expect.

The money on record is small. Bannon's fine was $6,500. Lavelle's $10,000 came from a perjury conviction, not the contempt charge she beat. For the officials the Justice Department answers to, the bill was nothing at all.

The count

TargetYearStepOutcome
Anne Burford, EPA administrator1982House resolution adopted Dec. 16Documents handed over after the White House dropped its legal challenge; Burford resigned
Rita Lavelle, EPA official1983Charged with criminal contemptAcquitted in July 1983; later convicted of lying to Congress: six months, $10,000
Eric Holder, attorney general2012House voted 255–67No criminal charges, CBS News reports
Lois Lerner, IRS official2014House voted 231–187Sent to the D.C. U.S. attorney; outcome not in the documents read
William Barr and Wilbur Ross2019House voted contempt over census subpoenasBarr: no criminal charges, CBS News reports; Ross: not in the documents read
Steve Bannon, ex-White House strategist2021House vote Oct. 21; indicted Nov. 12Convicted July 2022; four months, $6,500 fine
Merrick Garland, attorney general2024House voted 216–207; fine vote failed 204–210Justice Department memo argued against prosecution

The timeline

01

1982-84: EPA documents, one perjury sentence

The House adopted a resolution on Dec. 16, 1982 citing the head of the EPA, the US environmental regulator, over subpoenaed Superfund documents, per a Justice Department legal opinion. The Washington Post reported the documents were eventually handed over after the White House dropped its legal challenge, and Anne Burford later resigned. Lavelle, who ran the $1.6 billion Superfund program, was acquitted of contempt, then sentenced in January 1984 to six months and a $10,000 fine for lying to Congress, the Times reported. Her lawyer called her a scapegoat; she denied lying.

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By the numbers

  • 2y 8mfrom first to latest entry on recordNov 2021 to Jul 2024, 5 dated entries in the file
  • 19receipts behind this story14 news reports, 3 public records, 2 statements, 1984 to 2026

Counted by MrScandal from the receipts, the Files and our rankings.

02

1984-86: The Justice Department writes its exit

A May 30, 1984 Office of Legal Counsel memo concluded a U.S. attorney is not required to refer a contempt citation to a grand jury for an executive official carrying out the president's instruction to invoke executive privilege. A 1986 memo went further, saying Congress may not invoke criminal contempt against an agency head acting on the president's instructions. Neither memo put a price on anything. That was the point.

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03

2012: Eric Holder, the first sitting attorney general held in contempt

The Wall Street Journal reported on June 20, 2012 that a House committee voted along party lines to hold Holder in contempt, hours after President Obama first asserted executive privilege over the Fast and Furious gun-operation documents. The full House passed the resolution 255–67 on June 28, per the Clerk's roll call. CBS News reports Holder faced no criminal charges from his own Justice Department. The sources read carry no statement from Holder.

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04

2014: Lois Lerner, voted in and then sent along

The House voted 231–187 on May 7, 2014 to hold the former IRS official in contempt for refusing to testify, Fox News reported. Her lawyer said the vote had "nothing to do with the facts or the law" and that she had not committed contempt. The matter went to the U.S. attorney for D.C., who said his office would review it. What came of it is not confirmed in the documents read.

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05

2019: Barr and Ross, same result

CBS News reported that the Democratic-controlled House voted in 2019 to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt over census-related subpoenas. CBS also reported that Holder and Barr, the two attorneys general, faced no criminal charges from their own Justice Departments. The Ross outcome is not in the documents read.

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06

2021: Bannon, the House vote and the indictment

The January 6 select committee subpoenaed Bannon on Sept. 23, 2021, and the Justice Department says he refused to appear or produce documents. On Oct. 21 the House voted to hold him in contempt, with nine Republicans joining all 220 Democrats, CNN reported. His attorney had told the committee that executive privileges "belong to President Trump." A federal grand jury indicted him on two counts on Nov. 12, 2021, the Justice Department said.

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07

2022: Bannon, the verdict and the bill

A federal jury convicted Bannon on two counts on July 22, 2022, NPR reported; he vowed to appeal and called the committee's work a "show trial." On Oct. 21, 2022 Judge Carl Nichols sentenced him to four months and a $6,500 fine, per the Justice Department, and let him stay free pending appeal, Politico reported. Politico also reported the Justice Department declined to charge two other aides the committee held in contempt, Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino. Bannon's lawyer said there was "nothing here to deter."

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08

2024: Bannon, appeals exhausted for now

An appeals panel upheld Bannon's conviction on May 10, 2024, The Washington Post reported, and his lawyer said he would seek full-court review. The Supreme Court on June 28 rejected his request to stay out of prison while he challenged the conviction, The New York Times reported. He reported to the federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut on July 1, CNN reported, after Peter Navarro began his own four-month term. Bannon has said he relied on his lawyers' advice.

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09

2024: Merrick Garland, contempt with a fine attached

The House voted 216–207 on June 12, 2024 to hold Garland in contempt over audio of the Biden-Hur interview, CBS News reported. Garland said the House had turned "a serious congressional authority into a partisan weapon." A July 11 push for inherent contempt, a $10,000-per-day fine, fell short 204–210. A Justice Department spokesperson called it "unconstitutional."

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"efforts to punish an executive branch official for non-compliance with a subpoena through criminal contempt will likely prove unavailing in many, if not most, circumstances"

Congressional Research Service report RL34097, May 12, 2017

MissFortune's tally: one private citizen in jail, one fine in four figures, and a string of cabinet officers who were voted into contempt and walked away. Whether the next Congress tests that pattern in January is not on record.

Quick quiz · 3 questions

  1. On the record or still rumour?Bannon was convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress and sentenced to four months and a $6,500 fine; Holder and Barr, held in contempt, faced no criminal charges, CBS News reports.
  2. On the record or still rumour?Outcomes of the Lerner and Ross referrals are not confirmed in the documents read, nor is what the next Congress will subpoena or whether any contempt vote follows.
  3. Which year?Judge Carl Nichols sentenced Bannon to four months and a $6,500 fine, per the U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C

More games on the record: Price Tag · Timeline

The Steve Bannon file

Last entry Jul 1, 2024
  1. Reported

    Bannon reported to the federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut to begin his sentence, CNN reported. This story

  2. Ruled

    An appeals panel upheld Bannon's contempt conviction, The Washington Post reported. This story

  3. Ruled

    Judge Carl Nichols sentenced Bannon to four months and a $6,500 fine, per the U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C. This story

  4. Ruled

    A federal jury convicted Bannon on two counts of contempt of Congress, NPR reported. This story

  5. Filed

    A federal grand jury indicted Bannon on two counts of contempt of Congress, the U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C. said. This story

On file: The Steve Bannon file · The Eric Holder file

The Ledger

On the record

  • Bannon was convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress and sentenced to four months and a $6,500 fine; Holder and Barr, held in contempt, faced no criminal charges, CBS News reports.

Still rumour

  • Outcomes of the Lerner and Ross referrals are not confirmed in the documents read, nor is what the next Congress will subpoena or whether any contempt vote follows.

That's the record. The rest is rumour. - MissFortune

Next on the docket

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