Republicans are 'shooting themselves in the foot' by not agreeing Bannon is in contempt: reporter

CNN reporter Jim Sciutto revealed Wednesday morning that Republican leaders said they're telling members to vote "no" in holding Steve Bannon in criminal contempt for not complying with the Jan. 6 House Select Committee subpoena. The decision is a mistake, according to the network's legal analyst Elliot Williams.

While Williams confessed that the partisan behavior is "predictable," he said that the GOP members will likely return to the majority and at that point, they won't be able to enforce their own subpoenas, which they'll likely aim to use to bring down President Joe Biden

"Congress is made up mostly of two bickering political parties, but it's a collective that has the legal power to compel testimony," tweeted Williams. "Stuff like this makes it easier down the road for future witnesses to just say ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and ignore it when they get a subpoena. 'New defendant. Who dis?'"

Responses to Williams, however, asked why he thinks Republicans will play by the rules when they become the majority. The GOP is facing allegations of hypocrisy around the debt ceiling, which they voted to raise three times under former President Donald Trump. Now that President Joe Biden is in the White House, they're refusing to do the same.

At the same time, Republicans are suddenly concerned about the national debt, despite passing the GOP tax cut bill for corporations that the CBO said would add $1.9 trillion to the U.S. deficit over 10 years. Similarly, Republicans blocked hearings for a Supreme Court nominee for nearly a year because Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) didn't want former President Barack Obama to be able to appoint a replacement for a conservative justice. When the same thing happened in Trump's administration, Republicans fast-tracked their nominee to ensure the vacancy was filled within weeks. McConnell then said if the same thing happened again, he would do exactly the same thing to Biden in 2024.

See the full exchange here.