Bannon must be prosecuted quickly — and the DOJ needs 'new leadership' if he's not: legal experts

On Thursday, multiple legal experts weighed in on the criminal referral of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon for contempt of Congress — and urged the Justice Department to act on it as quickly as possible.

Former House impeachment counsel Daniel Goldman made abundantly clear that the issue of executive privilege is a red herring — and that the main battle is over whether a former president has the authority to let his allies ignore orders from Congress.

Former federal prosecutor Elie Honig urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to not "take more than a week or so" in his decision, saying, "Everyone needs to move past this culture of delay and slow-play."

And former Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe took it a step further, suggesting that if Garland does not prosecute Bannon, he should be replaced at the Justice Department.

The committee's move comes amid Bannon's total refusal to cooperate with the committee, and amid fears that if Republicans win control of the House of Representatives next year, they can shut down the committee if it has not yet produced its findings on the January 6 Capitol attack.