Traditionally, there have been three methods by which Congress can attempt to enforce a Congressional subpoena when a recalcitrant witness refuses to appear or to produce requested documents. Two of the methods, criminal contempt and civil enforcement, require the assistance of other branches of government. A third method, known as the "inherent contempt" power, can be independently exercised by Congress. We would support the use of that mechanism in an appropriate case, such as the one involving Steven K. Bannon.

Congress recently invoked one enforcement method when the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6^th Attack on the United States Capitol cited Mr. Bannon, a former White House employee and strategist, for criminal contempt. The contempt statute, 2 U.S.C. § 192, was enacted in 1857, and it provides in relevant part that a person "summoned as a witness" by any committee of Congress, who "willfully makes default, or who, having appeared, refuses to answer any question pertinent to the question under inquiry, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 nor less than $100 and imprisonment in a common jail for not less than one month nor more than twelve months."