The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol announced today that it will move to hold Steve Bannon in criminal contempt for not complying with its subpoena. And yet the committee “has opted to give other former Trump officials more time to comply with its subpoenas”, according to the Washington Post‘s Jacqueline Alemany and Tom Hamburger.

Why exactly is the committee going easy on the others? What’s the strategy?

Excerpt: “Lawmakers who sit on the panel — seven Democrats, two Republicans, all appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — said they are prepared to move quickly to pursue criminal contempt charges against witnesses like Bannon.”

And yet after a committee approves a contempt charge (presumably sometime next week), “the House must then vote on the matter. Once passed, the contempt referral would then be sent to the Justice Department. Then Attorney General Merrick Garland will have to decide whether to criminally prosecute an individual for failing to comply with the congressional subpoena,” etc.

Committee approval, House vote, Garland acts. Sounds to me like a measured, drawn-out, less-than-iron-willed process.