No-show Bannon to face charges

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has announced that it will hold Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of Donald Trump, in criminal contempt for refusing to comply with a subpoena. Bannon was scheduled for a deposition in front of the committee today, but his lawyer notified the panel yesterday that he would not provide testimony or documents until the committee reaches an "agreement" with Trump over executive privilege—or a court weighs in on the matter. The White House has already formally rejected Trump's request to assert executive privilege to shield from lawmakers a subset of documents they have requested in their probe. The committee will determine its next move with regard to Bannon on Oct. 19. Stay tuned. —CNN

• — An interview and another subpoena. Jeffrey Rosen, the acting attorney general in the final days of the Trump Administration, sat for eight hours of closed-door testimony with the committee yesterday. Unlike other witnesses, he appeared voluntarily to testify about the events leading up to the insurrection and the steps taken by the Justice Department to counter the attack. He also was asked about his interactions with Jeffrey Clark, the former acting head of the DOJ's civil division and a key ally of Trump in his efforts to prevent President Biden from taking office. The committee subpoenaed Clark late yesterday, requesting documents and an in-person deposition by Oct. 29. —The Week
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• — "Come armed." The Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department warned their law enforcement partner agencies on Jan. 5 that social media reports were urging attendees to bring weapons to the pro-Trump rally planned for the next day. An email obtained by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington was sent from the FBI's D.C. field office to the U.S. Secret Service, noting that eight firearms were recovered and five arrests were made at a previous pro-Trump event in November 2020. —CNN
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• — Busted. The FBI have raided the home of the vice president of the Proud Boys' Philadelphia chapter, his lawyer revealed this week. Authorities seized Aaron Wolkind's computer, phone, and other electronics to gather information on the far-right group's involvement in the insurrection. Zach Rehl, the self-described president of the Philadelphia Proud Boys, is already under investigation for his role in directing the group's actions, along with organizers from Florida and Washington, on Jan. 6. —The Patriot-News

Sargent: Anti-democracy as an organizing principle

"[T]he idea that Democratic and liberal election victories are inherently illegitimate—that when Trump and GOP voters find themselves in the minority coalition, it constitutes a profound injustice that must be subject to nullification—is clearly seen as playing an increasing role in keeping them politically engaged. Trump's latest eruption shows, in reverse, that he understands this perfectly well. But what does the enthusiastic willingness of GOP leaders to exploit this derangement to their advantage say about the contempt they have for their own voters?" —Greg Sargent in The Washington Post

Greg Sargent is a columnist at The Washington Post and the author of "An Uncivil War: Taking Back Our Democracy in an Age of Trumpian Disinformation and Thunderdome Politics."

MORE: Trump says Republicans won't vote in midterms, 2024 election if 2020 fraud isn't 'solved' —Newsweek

Reinforcements for 'Renewers'

Acknowledging that Donald Trump and his self-serving conspiracy theories now have an iron grip on the Republican Party, a group of anti-Trump Republicans has endorsed a slate of Democratic lawmakers facing tough races in next year's midterm elections. Their goal? To stop the GOP from retaking control of Congress in 2022. The Renew America Movement, formed by centrist Republicans after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, has released a list of 11 moderate Democrats, nine moderate Republicans, and one independent whom it supports in House and Senate races next year. "With the mounting threats to our democracy and Constitution, we need people who work proactively to lead their party and the country away from the political extremes," said Joel Searby, the group's national political director. Indeed. —Reuters

MORE: Republicans report record fundraising for House campaigns —Associated Press

Miller: Americans can't support a bill if they don't know what's in it

"[W]hen pollsters listed out the specific elements of the bill to ask if people had 'heard about' them, the aspect of this giant reconciliation bill that most people were familiar with was the $3.5 trillion price tag. So they know about the cost—not any of the specific programs. Seems like a problem! … One potential benefit of the current negotiations with [Sen. Joe] Manchin is that narrowing the scope of the bill might actually help the Democrats sell it better." —Tim Miller in The xxxxxx

Tim Miller is a writer-at-large at The xxxxxx. He was previously the political director for Republican Voters Against Trump, the communications director for Jeb Bush 2016, and a spokesman for the Republican National Committee.

MORE: Progressives urge Pelosi to keep all the social and climate programs in Biden's economic plan intact —CNBC

Terror in Norway

A bow-and-arrow rampage that killed five people in the small Norwegian town of Kongsberg yesterday appears to be an act of terrorism, according to authorities. Violent crime is rare in the Scandinavian country, and especially so in the quiet town of 26,000 near the nation's capital. Regional Police Chief Ole Saeverud described the suspect as a Muslim convert, and said there "earlier had been worries of the man having been radicalized," but he did not elaborate. The suspect, who previously had been convicted of burglary and drug possession and threatened to kill one of his parents, is being held on preliminary charges and will face a custody hearing tomorrow. Police say they believe he acted alone. —Associated Press

MORE: Six killed in Beirut clashes as tensions over blast probe soar —Associated Press

Focus on global democracy

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has emerged from Iraq's parliamentary elections as the leading figure in the country's politics. Al-Sadr has positioned himself as a xxxxxx against foreign interference in Iraq. He has a history of violent opposition to U.S. forces in the country but has more recently presented himself to regional and international partners as a more palatable alternative to pro-Iranian rivals. Election turnout was estimated at just 41% of registered voters, and would be lower still if all eligible voters were included. Millions of Iraqis chose to boycott, with young people particularly disillusioned. —Axios

• — Austria. Authorities in Austria have made a first arrest in the corruption probe that led Sebastian Kurz to resign as chancellor. Prosecutors are investigating Kurz and nine others on suspicion of embezzlement, bribery, and corruption for using state money to pay for fake opinion polls and positive media coverage from 2016, when Kurz was foreign minister. The person arrested earlier this week was a pollster under investigation who reportedly deleted data from her computer shortly before a raid. —Deutsche Welle
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• — Eswatini. Pro-democracy protests have flared up in Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, months after authorities loyal to the southern African country's absolute monarch quashed an earlier round of demonstrations in July. Anger against King Mswati III has been building for years, as he has consistently ignored calls for reforms that would nudge Eswatini in the direction of democracy. The king denies accusations of autocratic rule and of using public money to fund a lavish lifestyle in the impoverished nation. He previously called protests against his rule "satanic." —Reuters

1. — Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida dissolved the lower house of the country's parliament today, setting the stage for a general election this month as he seeks to rouse support for his newly formed government. The vote, to be held on Oct. 31, will be Kishida's first major test after he won the ruling party's leadership election on Sept. 29. He was officially appointed Japan's 100th prime minister on Oct. 4. —CNN

Oppenheimer: Who should get an invite to the 'Summit of Democracies'?

"It would be best to invite a smaller group of well-established democracies to coordinate new diplomatic ways to press Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and other dictatorships to restore basic freedoms. Summit participants could also seek new ways to protect themselves from wannabe autocrats in their own countries…who want to subvert the results of free elections." —Andrés Oppenheimer in The Miami Herald

Andrés Oppenheimer is an author, the editor and syndicated foreign affairs columnist at The Miami Herald, and the anchor of "Oppenheimer Presenta."

MORE: Europe on collision course with U.S. over Venezuela elections —CNN

Love what you all are doing. Reasonable discourse is priority to progress. —Robert W., Texas

The oath Lynn Schmidt cited in her St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial specifically mentions defending the Constitution "against enemies foreign and domestic." The insurrectionists of Jan. 6 sought to disrupt a constitutional procedure of succession, and by their actions have qualified themselves as domestic enemies of that Constitution. Those in that mob who were ever members of the armed services or took oaths to defend the Constitution as civil servants have forsaken the oaths they took. Theirs is no longer a political movement, but rather a criminal enterprise. —Steve J., Pennsylvania

Uncle Sammy is not well. He suffers from a number of ailments, many related to his lifestyle (hypertension, emphysema, heart disease). Every four years, two medical teams vie for control of his treatment. The current team, the donkeys, believe they can save him, but they spend so much time arguing that they have no plan. The other team, the elephants, are laser-focused on their plan, which is to retake power and heal Sammy by siphoning his blood and selling it to the highest bidder. —Tim P., New Mexico

I've received The Topline for several years and have admired Evan McMullin for even longer. I agree with Robert Gehrke of The Salt Lake Tribune—Evan is the best chance to rebuke the cult-club Republican shitshow. Yes, the repercussions will be wide and strong when he is elected. I'm all in for Evan's sincere vision for Utah and America. —JoAnne R., Colorado

The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.