House Capitol attack committee votes to recommend Steve Bannon prosecution – as it happened | US news

In her remarks ahead of the vote, Liz Cheney had a message for Republican colleagues and suggested that Trump was directly involved in the 6 January attack.

“Mr. Bannon’s and Mr. Trump’s privilege arguments do appear to reveal one thing,” she said. “They suggest that President Trump was personally involved in the planning and execution of 6 January. And we will get to the bottom of that.”

To Republican lawmakers, she said: “You know that there is no evidence of widespread election fraud sufficient to overturn the election; you know that the Dominion voting machines were not corrupted by a foreign power. You know those claims are false.”

The House select committee is now going to vote on whether to hold Steve Bannon in contempt.

“I expect that the House will quickly adopt this referral to the justice department and that the US attorney will do his duty and prosecute Mr Bannon for criminal contempt of Congress,” said Bennie Thompson, the committee chair. “It’s a shame that Mr Bannon has put us in this position. But we won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”

“There isn’t a different set of rules” for Bannon, Thompson added noting that the majority of Americans would not be able to evade subpoenas the way Bannon has tried to do. “Mr Bannon stands alone in his complete defiance of our subpoena. That’s not acceptable. No one in this country, no matter how wealthy or how powerful, is above the law. Left unaddressed, this defiance may encourage others to follow Mr Bannon down the same path,” he said.

The House select committee investigating the 6 January insurrection is expected to vote on whether to hold former Trump aide Steve Bannon in contempt shortly.

Yesterday, the White House reportedly sent a letter to Bannon’s lawyer saying that he had no basis for his refusal to appear for a deposition. The letter, which was obtained by the Washington Post, was sent by Jonathan C Su, a deputy counsel to the president.

It reads: “As you are aware, Mr. Bannon’s tenure as a White House employee ended in 2017,” the Post reports. “To the extent any privileges could apply to Mr. Bannon’s conversations with the former President or White House staff after the conclusion of his tenure, 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.”

Indeed, legal experts say that Bannon’s claim that his deposition is protected by executive privilege is dubious. Executive privilege is broadly defined and can protect presidents’ communications with close advisers. But it’s unclear whether the privilege covers ex-presidents. And it’s unclear whether it would apply to Bannon, who left his White House position in 2017, long before the 6 January attack that lawmakers are investigating.

While the majority of Americans say they don’t want Donald Trump running for president in 2024, among Republicans, 78% say they want him back, according to a new Quinnipiac poll.

The pool found a country divided on the former president’s legacy. While just over half of Americans (51%) said Trump has had a mainly negative impact on American politics, 41% say he has had a mainly positive impact. While 51 % said Trump has been undermining democracy, 39% said he has been protecting it.

“While a majority of Americans say, ‘been there, done that’ about Trump and half feel he has damaged the underpinnings of democracy, support for the former president within the GOP has grown,” said Tim Malloy, a Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst

One hundred and five US representatives signed a letter urging Joe Biden to defend provisions for paid family leave in the Build Back Better Act.

“We write to express our support for maintaining robust paid family and medical leave in the final reconciliation package,” they wrote. “Paid leave is a top priority for us and the workers we represent. The appeal was led by Democrats Don Beyer of Virginia, Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, Judy Chu and Jimmy Gomez of California, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania.

As my colleague Erum Salam explains:

The US is the only industrialized country to not offer paid family leave, or paid time off after adopting, fostering or giving birth to a new child. While some private companies offer this as a perk to their employees, Build Back Better would ensure all new working parents and caregivers job security and almost three months of at least partial paid time off after these major life events.

It would also guarantee all workers at least three days of bereavement leave in the event of a death in the family.

Negotiations over a plan that would appease moderates and retain the support of progressives are stalled – with fraught discussions about which programs to cut to reduce the bill’s overall spending underway.

The US may soon recommend Covid-19 vaccine boosters for people 40 and older, CNN reports.

CNN’S Elizabeth Cohen and John Bonifield report:

The US government likely will soon recommend booster shots to people as young as 40 who received either Moderna or Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, according to a source familiar with the plan.

“I believe it will happen,” the source said.

The source said there is “growing concern within the FDA” that US data is beginning to show hospitalizations among people under age 65 who have been fully vaccinated.

Pfizer boosters are currently recommended for those over 65 and with certain medical conditions, and a Moderna booster is expected to be authorized for the same groups.