joining us, paula reid. who decide to not comply with congressional subpoenas. >> according to schiff, people who don't cooperate can go to jail. people who don't observe their subpoenas are going to be referred for criminal contempt. and the committee is prepared to urge the justice department to prosecute anyone who refuses to comply with subpoenas from the panel. now there are some signs of what could potentially be progress. schiff said today the committee is engaging with lawyers for former chief of staff mark meadows and former pentagon official kash patel to try to secure their testimony. as you noted, longtime trump adviser steve bannon has indicated he'll not appear until a judge resolves questions about executive privilege. now bannon was not part of the executive branch at the time in question and his blanket refusal to cooperate is unlikely to hold up. he's scheduled for a deposition on thursday. if he makes good on his threat not to show, just how fast could a criminal referral happen? let's tak

cnn's paula reid has more for you. >> reporter: investigators are targeting 11 individuals associatedith the group women for america first. that group organized the rally on the elipse on january 6. now, on this list of names, they include the group's original founder and chairwoman amy cramer in addition to katrina pierson, a former trump campaign official who lawmakers allege had discussed the rallies with the former president in the days leading up to these events. now, it's clear that they are expanding their scope beyond their original round of subpoenas, which went to just a small group of trump advisers. now they are looking for more information, it appears, about what went into the planning of this rally. while the former president has suggested some of the events that day were just spontaneous, lawmakers insist there was organization, planning and funding, and they want these people to help them reconstruct exactly what happened. now, in these subpoenas, they are demanding information related to the planning, the organizing and the funding of these events, and they also want

paula reid, appreciate it. thank you. more now from the white house, cnn's kaitlan collins is there for us tonight. so what is the reaction from the white house tonight about this lawsuit? >> they are standing by their decision to say they are not going to wave -- or they are not going to assert privilege over these documents because they say president biden himself has made the decision here, he doesn't think that this is a situation that justifies using it. and so, they are not commenting on the lawsuits, specifically, anderson but they are saying that they believe the former president abused the office of the presidency. and therefore, given this was -- in their -- what they say was a clear attempt to subvert the election. it doesn't justify waiving that executive privilege that, typically, a current president would do for a former president when it's documents shortly after they left office. and so, these are documents we know that the white house counsel has seen. not many people in the white house has actually seen

paula reid, how is this process going to work?on tuesday they say they are going to get to work. they are going to have a meeting where they will adopt a report detailing how they tried to get bannon to comply with the subpoena and how he refused. they adopt that report, it will move to the house for a vote. if that succeeds, it will be referred to the justice department. so ultimately it's up to attorney general merrick garland if he wants to move forward with a prosecution. it's unclear how he will handle it. bannon has said he is not going to comply unless he is ordered to do so by a court and he notes the fact that the former president has directed him not to comply because he wants to raise issues of privilege. today the committee said we reject that argument in its entirety. now, if he is prosecuted and found guilty, he could be looking at a fine and even jail time. look, jake, this is not a common kind of proceeding. it rarely results in jail time p but i spoke to the lawyers, even in the trump orbit, who say jail could be

paula reid has been following the story.nto all of these efforts. >> eastman is a conservative law professor who is working with trump's legal team to try to convince former vice president mike pence to overturn the ele election. now eastman authored this two-page memo, the eastman memo, and many legal experts say it's just a completely nonsensical legal theory of how republican officials could subvert the constitution and try to overturn the election results. now this theory, if you will, was first presented to the vice president on january 4th in the oval office with trump and eastman and then on january 6th at a rally that preceded the capitol insurrection. eastman once again called out pence. investigators in the house select committee looking into the events of january 6th say they want to know more about the kind of pressure that pence was facing from eastman and others. interestingly, last night we got a new video of eastman talking about how he felt about pence rejecting his big plan. let's get a listen. >> like why

but now as cnn's paula reid reports, the chairman of the house select committee is helping to clarifys remarks while two republicans are publicly coming to trump's defense. >> reporter: lawmakers investigating the deadly capitol riot urged fellow representatives today to move forward on a vote to refer trump adviser steve bannon for criminal contempt after he defied a subpoena. >> we're not asking to talk to steve bannon on a whim. we believe he has firsthand specific knowledge that the congress needs to have to conduct our investigation. >> reporter: cnn has learned the gop leaders are recommending a no note on the referral and trump allies saying the investigation is an attempt to distract from biden's failures. >> can't talk about inflation, real wages going down. >> the border crisis that is concerning them. the problems we have abroad. this is all just theater to set up the utilization of criminal process against steve bannon. >> give me a break. this is a political theater, i don't know what is. >> reporter: but representative liz cheney reminded lawmakers why they need to talk

cnn's senior legal affairs correspondent paula reid has details. >> chairman, on this vote -- >> reportergating the capitol insurrection plans to subpoena john eastman, a conservative law professor who tried to convince former vice president mike pence to overturn the election. >> i think he's a very pertinent witness. >> reporter: a committee aide tells cnn that eastman could still avoid a subpoena if he voluntarily cooperates with the investigation. on tuesday, representative jamie raskin said the committee wants to know more about the pressure pence faced. >> we need to determine to what extent there was an organized effort against vice president pence. and we believe that, you know, some of the actors' names have become known including john eastman who laid it out in a memo. >> reporter: eastman authored a two-page memo laying out what they've called a nonsense legal theory for republican officials to subvert the constitution and throw out president biden's victory when congress convened to count electrical college votes. eastman first tried to convince pence of the plan to kick elect

let's get to cnn's paula reid. do we know when the full house of representatives will vote on whether or not to hold bannon in contempt of congress? >> we've just learned, jake, the committee expects that full vote in the house to happen by friday. if it succeeds, then this issue would move on to the justice department. specifically the u.s. attorney in d.c. but the decision on whether to proceed would lie with the loss, attorney general merrick garland and at this point it's not clear exactly what he will do. he is facing considerable political pressure, even though the white house and justice department are supposed to be completely separate, president biden weighed in late last week saying, yes, he believes bannon should be prosecuted. and, of course, we've seen democratic lawmakers also calling on the justice department to proceed with this arguing that if they don't, then trump associates won't have any incentive or need to cooperate. it's interesting, jake, in speaking with legal experts on both sides of this

. >> cnn's paula reid is tracking this story. explain the process that they're going to start tonight with the justice department involved. >> reporter: victor, tonight, the house committee will move to adopt this report that they have compiled. it lays out exactly what they wanted from bannon, their efforts to get him to comply and how he refused. if that succeeds, it moves to the full house for a vote and then it likely moves on to the justice department where the decision about whether to proceed lies with attorney general merrick garland. at this point, it's unclear what the attorney general will do, but we know two things. one is that the attorney general is facing a lot of political pressure, and according to experts i've spoken with, bannon has made the decision a little bit easier for him. in terms of the political pressure, late last week, president biden said that he believes, yes, bannon should be prosecuted for contempt. that is notable because the justice department is, of course, supposed to be independent, but othe

cnn's senior legal affairs correspondent paula reid joins us now with the late details of the ratcheted up law enforcement president in northern virginia. what are local officials saying tonight and has the fbi weighed in? >> reporter: good evening, john. authorities in northern virginia have announced an increased police presence in the region friday amid warnings from federal authorities about a possible terror plot. now, authorities are still determining the validity of the threat. but as a precaution federal and local law enforcement are investigating and taking steps to ensure that potential targets are safeguarded against an attack. now, the fbi and the department of homeland security briefed state and local law enforcement officials in maryland, washington, and virginia on a possible terror plot in the region in the coming days. now police chief kevin davis said at a press briefing friday that the fairfax county police department had received information concerning potential public safety impacts to malls and shopping centers across the region. davis declined to provide any speci

paula reid is outfront live from capitol hill. doj now has the bannon referral from the house.this passed overwhelmingly with those nine republican votes in addition to democrats. so what happens now? >> reporter: all eyes, erin, are on the attorney general. today's vote to hold bannon in contempt gave speaker pelosi the power to refer bannon for prosecution, and that referral will go to the u.s. attorney in the district of columbia but the big decision on whether to prosecute ultimately lies with attorney general merrick garland. coincidentally he was here on the hill for a routine oversight hearing. he was asked about this referral and he wouldn't tip his hand about how exactly he intends to handle this. he just said that the justice department will handle this as it handles everything else, by looking at the facts and looking at the law. look, erin, he's really facing significant political pressure. committee members and even president biden have publicly said that they want bannon to be prosecuted even though of course the justice department is supposed to be independent of

paula reid is out front. paula, what can you tell us is happening?e learned that lawmakers are frustrated with mea meadows. it's been over a month since he was subpoenaed. during that time he was at least engaging, negotiating terms. a source says at this point it's clear meadows has no intention of providing testimony or documents which is why we learned some committee members are ready to amp up the pressure on meadows and they can do that by setting a deadline which will force him to either comply or be referred for criminal contempt which is what they did with steve bannon. poppy, that is a risk. unlike steve bannon, the former chief of staff has a stronger claim for potential privilege protection. will he get it? that will be up to president biden. so far biden has not asserted privilege for bannon or records from the trump white house. white house counsel said this is an extraordinary circumstance and the president has concluded that it's not in the best interest of the united states to assert privilege. what will happen with meadows? the white

cnn senior legal affairs correspondent paula reid joins us now with the latest.going on? >> so, here, anderson, trump is asking the court for, at most, granting his request to block lawmakers from actually obtaining these materials. and at the very least, he is asking them to delay lawmakers

joining me right now is cnn senior legal affairs correspondent paula reid, cnn legal analyst and formereral prosecutor jennifer rogers. paula, where is this headed now? >> reporter: kate, it's a very lengthy process and one that is not undertaken very often, but the first step is likely on tuesday when lawmakers are expected to hold a business meeting where they'll mover the adopt a report, detailing how they tried to get bannon to cooperate and how he refused. then it moves to the house for a vote and if it succeeds there it moves to the justice department, the u.s. attorney's office, possibly put this issue before a grand jury. ultimately the decision lies with the attorney general, merrick garland, if he wants to move forward with this. bannon has argued he will not cooperate unless ordered to do so by a judge. he says he's been directed by trump not to participate because he wants to raise issues of privilege, though it's not clear he will do that. if he is prosecuted, there is a trial, if he is found guilty, a lot of ifs, if that happens he could face a fine or jail time. this is i

paula reid starts us off with the committee's stepped up efforted and now a u.s.e tied to the january 6th attack. >> reporter: today, u.s. capitol police officer michael riley arrested, charged with obstruction of justice. according to an indictment unsealed friday, riley allegedly communicated on facebook with a person who posted selfies and videos from the capitol during the insurrection. riley allegedly messaged the person, i'm a capitol police officer who agrees with your political stance. take down the part about being in the building. they are currently investigating and everyone who was in the building is going to charge. then in mid-january, riley allegedly told the person, get off social media. they're arresting dozens of people a day. at some point they also spoke on the phone. then the person at the riot was arrested on january 19th and was asked by the fbi about communications with riley. according to the indictment, riley deleted his facebook messages on january 20th. riley appeared in court today virtually and was released on certain conditions. incl

paula reid is outfront. so, paula, lot of developments here. i want to start with jeffrey clark. household name but he was very important. central to trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election. what more can you tell us about him? and how likely he is to comply with the committee? >> well, erin, in this subpoena, the committee cites credible evidence that clark tried to interfere with the transfer of power. specifically, they say he proposed that the justice department send a letter to state legislatures in georgia and other states, suggesting that they delay certification of election results and even hold a press conference announcing a federal investigation of voter fraud. now, those proproposals were rejected for lacking a factual basis and just being inconsistent with the justice department's actual role. now, as to your question about whether he will comply, well a source familiar with his talks with the committee tell cnn it is likely he will testify. today, his old colleague, former acting attorney general, jeffrey rosen, he met with the committee for eight hours. >> wo

joining me now, paula reid back with us, and cnn legal analyst carrie cordero.ns when you have witnesses that clearly are not ready to cooperate? >> the options of the committee are that they can continue to try to work with these witnesses and see if they can engage them and come to a resolution regarding their potential compliance, or they need to be sending a criminal referral to the justice department for contempt and possibly obstruction of justice. with respect to mr. bannon, it probably was pretty predictable he was not going to comply. i would think this is something the committee had a good sense was coming and hopefully are prepared to make that criminal referral. otherwise, the power of a congressional subpoena means nothing. >> i still question that very thing, though, carrie. adam schiff says they're ready to proceed on the criminal referral even before they heard from bannon overnight. how do they get there? how quickly? >> that's the thing. do they want to give him more time or do they know he is thumbing his nose at the committee? this was entire

. >> paula reid, thank you. >>> i want to bring in a democratic congresswoman on the select committee investigating the january 6th attack and represents the great commonwealth of virginia. so i want to get your reaction to this news that a capitol police officer, one of the many brave men and women who -- it's their job to protect people like you. this officer has been indicted on obstruction charges for warning an insurrectionist to take down his social media posts. what's your reaction? how do issues like this complicate your committee's mission. >> thanks for the question. this falls in a different category. the department of justice is investigating individuals who took actions on that day that people who brutally attacked police officers, those who entered the building. this is a new development to have a police officer himself who is being charged with obstructing justice. it's important when we look at the investigations overall that we separate out the individual criminal prosecutions of these individuals and then the work of the committee which is broader and looking at the

. >> paula reid is out front on capitol hill to begin our breaking coverage tonight as we await in live vote and these speeches. paula, what more are you learning about what to expect tonight from the committee and where this goes then? >> good evening, erin. well tonight, the committee is expected to adopt a report it has compiled detailing what they wanted to know from bannon, how they tried to get him to comply with the subpoena, and how he refused. now, included in that report is a resolution so once they adopt the report, that resolution would go to the full house for a vote. and we are told that that would likely happen by the end of this week. now, if it is successful on the house floor, which it is expected to be, then it will move on to the justice department. and this, erin, this is where things get really interesting. because that resolution is expected to go to the u.s. attorney in washington to bring the matter before a grand jury. clearly, this is a very politically fraught matter and the decision on whether to proceed ultimately lies with attorney general merrick garland.