Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor under United States law consisting of obstructing the work of Congress or one of its committees. Historically the charge covered conduct such as bribing a member of Congress, but in modern practice it is most often applied to a witness's refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena issued by a committee or subcommittee seeking testimony or the production of documents. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Typical PenaltyContempt of Congress is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than 100 dollars nor more than 100000 dollars and imprisonment of one to twelve months 1 Notable ExamplePeter Navarro was reported as the first former White House official imprisoned for a contempt of Congress conviction, with Steve Bannon following in July 2024 1 Classification
Offense GradeMinor or Summary Offense 1 Connections
Has Offense Grade
Entity-backed identity for the offense-grade enum value this offense already carries, resolved to a crime concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The offense-grade fact itself stays on the offense unchanged.
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Contempt of Congress (Wikipedia)
lead paragraph, Wikipedia REST summary extract for Contempt of Congress
Contempt of Congress is the misdemeanor act of obstructing the work of the United States Congress or one of its committees. Historically, the bribery of a U.S. senator or U.S. representative was considered contempt of Congress. In modern times, contempt of Congress has generally applied to the refusal to comply with a subpoena issued by a congressional committee or subcommittee-usually seeking to compel either testimony or the production of requested documents.
Statutory proceedings section
The criminal offense of contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $100,000 nor less than $100 and imprisonment in a common jail for not less than one month nor more than twelve months.
History section, Navarro and Bannon sentence
In March 2024, it was reported that Peter Navarro would be the first former White House official to be imprisoned for a contempt of Congress criminal conviction. Steve Bannon would then follow in July 2024.
Lead section, MediaWiki extracts API misdemeanor clause
Contempt of Congress is the misdemeanor act of obstructing the work of the United States Congress or one of its committees.
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