Kinzinger to Jan. 6 Witnesses: ‘Pay the Price’ Like Bannon if You Ignore Subpoena

This week, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon was found guilty of contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee. And on Sunday, Rep. Adam Kinzinger — one of two Republicans on the panel — issued a warning to future witnesses subpoenaed by Congress: comply or you will suffer Bannon’s fate.

Appearing on ABC’s This Week, Kinzinger reacted to Bannon’s conviction, saying, “It’s good,” and referring to it as “justice.”

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“Come in,” he added in a message to Bannon and others called to testify. “You can plead the Fifth if you want in front of our committee, but you can’t ignore a congressional subpoena, or you’ll pay the price. That’s to any future witnesses, too.”

Bannon’s conviction on two counts of contempt of Congress came Friday, making him the first high-ranking Trump ally to face potential jail time for refusing to cooperate with the Jan. 6 inquiry. Each charge comes with possible incarceration ranging from 30 days to a year. Bannon will be sentenced on Oct. 21, pending appeal. Former Trump White House advisor Peter Navarro has also been indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of contempt of Congress for his refusal to testify or provide documents to the House Jan. 6 committee.

The congressman also applauded Jan. 6 witness Cassidy Hutchinson, an assistant to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows who gave compelling testimony earlier this month that shone a light on Trump’s actions that day. “Cassidy Hutchinson will go down in history as a hero, and she never sought to. She’s just a young woman telling the truth with more courage than the vast majority of men in politics today,” he said.

He also had a strong message for Republican voters: “You are being abused.”

“Your leaders, by and large, have been lying to you,” Kinzinger said, adding, “They know the election wasn’t stolen, but they’re going to send out fundraising requests, they’re gonna take your money … and they’re going to use you to stay in power.”

“They’re the liars,” he said of GOP members pushing the lie that the election was stolen. “And Kevin McCarthy is among them.”

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