Bannon faces contempt charge

Former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon is facing contempt of Congress charges for his refusal to comply with a subpoena to testify before a committee of the House of Representatives on the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

According to United Press International, the committee voted to adopt a contempt report. The formal contempt citation will next go to the full House for a vote, possibly on Thursday. If approved, it would go to the Justice Department for possible prosecution

A criminal contempt citation could include a penalty of imprisonment.

The committee wants not only Bannon’s testimony but also any documents – including texts and e-mails – which may have information about former President Trump’s possible involvement with the attack.

U.S. troops into Mexico?

The New York Times is reporting that some officials in the Trump Administration considered sending up to 250,000 U.S. troops to the Mexican border to stop illegal immigration and to combat the drug cartels.

According to The Times, Defense Secretary Mark Esper in 2020 learned of the proposal and quashed it, arguing that such a deployment would weaken American defenses abroad and likely be interpreted as aggression toward Mexico, which is the biggest trading partner of the U.S.

Also in the news …

• The Pfizer vaccine against the coronavirus is 93 percent effective at keeping adolescents (ages 12 to 18) out of the hospital, USA Today is reporting.
• A ransom of $17 million – or $1 million each – is being asked for the return of the 17 people (most of them Americans) kidnapped by a criminal gang in Haiti, according to Reuters.com.

Sports: Dodgers rally, beat Braves in Game 3

Cody Bellinger’s three-run home run in eighth inning, followed by Mookie Betts’ RBI double, propelled the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-5 win in the third game of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday. The Braves won the first two games. Game Four will also be at Dodger Stadium.

Weather: Clouds and Seventies

Temperatures in the West Orange County area will take a hilly trip up and down the 70s for the next few days. According to the forecast, Wednesday’s high will be 75 and partly cloudy. The overnight low will be 52. Thursday will see a high of 77, followed by 72 on Friday and 71 on Saturday and Sunday. In the coastal areas of Huntington Beach, Wednesday’s high will be 70 (low if 53) under partly cloudy skies. Thursday will see a 71, followed by 68 degrees on Friday.