Bannon only one of 19 not cooperating with Jan. 6 panel

That's something that committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) made clear this week ahead of the Tuesday vote to hold former president Donald Trump’s one-time adviser in contempt, saying in opening remarks that Bannon “stands alone in his complete defiance” of the panel’s subpoena. 

The House is expected to vote today on the resolution to hold Bannon in contempt. And while it's likely to pass and be referred to the Justice Department, House GOP leadership has urged all Republican members vote ‘no' on the contempt resolution. 

The Jan. 6 panel is collecting “thousands of pages of records” and “conducting interviews on a steady basis,” according to Thompson, underscoring the contrast between Bannon and other Trump aides.  

So, The Early took a look at the people who are engaging with and cooperating with the investigation: (And more subpoenas are expected to come.)

“Some Trump aides have scrambled in recent days to find lawyers to represent them, expecting protracted battles with the committee,” Jackie and our colleagues Tom Hamburger and Josh Dawsey reported. “Others have begun considering the option of testifying but not commenting on any interactions with Trump.” 

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Pentagon official Kash Patel have been “engaging” with the probe, according to the panel, and were granted an extension to testify as their legal teams negotiate with the select committee. Former deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino and DOJ official Jeffrey Clark are also engaged, though it's still unclear what date Patel, Meadows and Scavino will reschedule their depositions for. 

Eleven pro-Trump rally organizers have also been responsive to the panel. They include Amy Kremer, founder of Women for America First, and her daughter Kylie Jane Kremer.  

The pair “face questions about reports that the group had concerns about the ‘Stop the Steal’ rally turning into an illegal and chaotic march on the Capitol,” we reported previously. “They may also be able to shed light on the degree to which the former president and his senior White House aides knew about their fears of chaos on Jan 6.” 

Former Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson is also slated to appear before the committee next week. Pierson “reportedly served as an informal liaison between the White House and the rally on the Ellipse,” per our colleagues.  

Ali Alexander, a right wing activist who organized the “Stop the Steal” rally and claims to have coordinated with Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), has been cooperating with the committee and has been granted an extension for responding to its requests, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. 

Baron Coleman, Alexander's lawyer, and Lyndon Brentnall, the owner of RMS Protective Services, the security firm that worked with the Kremers, have also been in touch with the committee, according to people familiar with the investigation. 

The most recent subpoena went to Clark, who sought to deploy department resources to support Trump's false claims of massive voting fraud in the 2020 election. 

Next steps

What comes next for the sitting GOP lawmakers the committee has expressed interest in? 

On Wednesday, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) “struggled to answer questions about his communications with then-President Donald Trump during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, telling a House panel that he doesn’t recall the number of times he spoke with Trump that day,” our colleague Felicia Sonmez writes. 

“He seemed very nervous and twitchy when people were asking him about his activities on Jan. 6 and during the days leading up to it,” committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said yesterday. As for why lawmakers like Jordan hasn't been subpoenaed, Raskin said the committee is taking it “one witness at a time.” 

“There's a logic unfolding to the investigation and we're prepared to follow all the leads that are out there," he added. 

The child tax credit fight

As lawmakers slim down their health care, education, climate and tax overhaul, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), one of Washington's biggest proponents of the child tax credit, says he'll continue to fight for a permanent expanded child tax credit and it's “essential” the package include permanent refundability. 

Bennet views ensuring the poorest families remain eligible for the full credit amount, regardless of federal taxes they owe, as crucial to cutting childhood poverty. He declined to say that keeping the credit fully refundable is a red line for him, but he has been working the phones to make his case. 

Bennet also said he had two “productive” conversations with the White House on Tuesday night about the issue and has had “numerous conversations over the years” with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) about it.

“We want the overall credit to go as long as it possibly can, and I think that it's been one of the most successful initiatives of this administration,” Bennet told The Early Wednesday night. “Assuming that we can't get it extended any farther, we're continuing to try to fight to extend it. I think we're gonna have a fight — even if it's a year from now — to make it permanent.” 

“Manchin said that he wants there to be work requirements for the credit. He has also indicated he thinks there should be ‘means testing’ to lower the income limits for the expanded credit,” the Hill's Naomi Jagoda and Aris Folley reported. 

On K Street

Lobbyists cash in on drawn-out Democratic legislative struggle

Gold rush: Democrats’ tortured push to pass two massive bills has been good for K Street.

Many of Washington’s top lobbying firms — including BGR Group, Invariant, K&L Gates, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Capitol Counsel, Subject Matter, Forbes Tate Partners, Thorn Run Partners, Holland & Knight and Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas — saw record lobbying revenue in the third quarter, according to numbers shared with The Early ahead of Wednesday's reporting deadline.

Brownstein Hyatt, Washington’s top-grossing firm, brought in $13.9 million in lobbying revenue representing clients such as Starbucks, General Motors, Uber and ExxonMobil, up from $12.5 million in the third quarter of last year. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, the No. 2 firm, was close behind at $13.6 million — down only slightly from the second quarter, which was its best ever.

The law-and-lobbying firm Holland & Knight has about the same number of lobbyists it did at the end of 2019. But “we’re working twice as hard and collecting a lot more money,” said Rich Gold, the leader of the firm’s public policy and regulation group.

Gold's firm took in $9.3 million in lobbying revenue in the third quarter, up 10 percent from the second quarter of this year and 29 percent from the third quarter of 2020.

The boom echoes the rush to hire lobbyists in the first two years of the Obama administration, as Democrats hustled to pass the Affordable Care Act, the Dodd-Frank financial reforms and other massive bills. 

The uncertainty about what will and won’t make it into Democrats’ reconciliation bill has created “a healthy degree of paranoia” among companies and other interests looking to get things into or keep things out of the legislation, said Marc Lampkin, the managing partner of Brownstein Hyatt’s Washington office.

And on K Street, anxiety is good for business.

At the White House

Glasgow on my mind: In private meetings this week, President “Biden has stressed — several times — that lawmakers must help him show that democracies can tackle major problems, imploring them not to send him empty-handed to a pair of upcoming summit meetings,” our colleagues Annie Linskey, Sean Sullivan and Matt Viser report.

"'He was laying out what he wants,' said Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), who met with Biden this week. 'It was clear what he wanted — and it hasn’t been until now.'"

“Biden’s stepped-up involvement comes as a rapid succession of deadlines loom, including the expiration of federal highway funds Oct. 31, the president’s appearance at a climate summit in Scotland on Nov. 1, and a Virginia governor’s election that’s become a referendum on the Democratic agenda Nov. 2.”

The Media

What we’re reading: 

• Dems toil to save SALT following last-minute scare. By Politico’s Sarah Ferris, Heather Caygle and Burgess Everett.
• All eyes on Manchin after Republicans again block voting rights legislation. By The Post’s Mike DeBonis.
• Rahm Emanuel faces questions on handling of Chicago police shooting during confirmation hearing for Japan ambassadorship. By The Post’s John Hudson.
• U.S. and Iran enter ‘decisive’ period to revive nuclear accord or risk failure, U.N. watchdog chief says. By The Post’s Karen DeYoung and Joby Warrick.
• ‘Everyone should be very worried’: Dems seek wake-up call as Virginia goes to the wire. By Politico’s Zach Montellaro and Elena Schneider. 
• Former U.S. president Donald Trump launches new social media platform. By Reuters.

Viral

Hilton on The Hill:

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