- Stephen Bannon is criminally charged for ignoring the subpoena issued by the Congressional Committee investigating the January 6th Capitol attack.
- The famous adviser to former US President Donald Trump was charged with one count of contempt of Congress for refusing to appear in court to testify, and the second count of refusing to produce documents.
- Justice Department spokesman Bill Miller stated that Bannon “is expected to surrender himself in Washington on Monday” and will appear in court for the first time that afternoon.
The U.S. Department of Justice said on Friday that Stephen Bannon, a prominent adviser to former U.S. President Donald Trump, has been criminally charged for ignoring a subpoena issued by a Congressional Committee to investigate the January 6th Capitol attack.
Bannon refused to cooperate with the House Special Committee and asked him to provide testimony and documents on the grounds that Trump insisted that he had the right to keep the requested materials confidential under a legal principle called executive privilege.
Bannon, 67, was charged with one count of contempt of Congress for refusing to appear in court to testify, and the second count of refusing to produce documents. Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of up to 100,000 U.S. dollars.
Justice Department spokesman Bill Miller stated that Bannon “is expected to surrender himself in Washington on Monday” and will appear in court for the first time that afternoon.
Trump tried to prevent the committee from reviewing his actions related to the deadly Capitol riots and instructed his former colleagues not to cooperate. The allegations against Bannon may strengthen the committee’s efforts to obtain testimony and documents from other Trump colleagues.
Bannon’s indictment was announced a few hours after Trump’s former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, refused to testify before the committee. He also risked being caught defying Congress.
As a senior adviser to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and later as chief strategist at the White House, Bannon helped clarify the “America First” right-wing populism and strong opposition to immigration, which helped define Trump’s presidency .
Bannon, who has promoted various right-wing causes and candidates in the United States and abroad, continued to advise Trump after he left the White House in 2017. Breibart News website.
‘Clear message’
The leaders of the committee, Democrat Benny Thompson and Republican Liz Cheney, said in a statement:
Steve Bannon’s indictment should send a clear message to anyone who thinks they can ignore the select committee or try to obstruct our investigation: no one can be above the law.
Bannon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is the second time Bannon has faced criminal charges in 15 months. Bannon was accused in August 2020 of defrauding We Build the Wall donors, a private fundraising activity aimed at promoting Trump’s wall project on the US-Mexico border and a ship belonging to a fugitive China The billionaire was arrested on the yacht. Trump then pardoned Bannon before the case entered trial.
The Democratic-led House of Representatives voted in October to detain Bannon on charges of contempt of Congress. Most of Trump’s Republican colleagues in Congress opposed the establishment of an independent committee or committee to investigate events around January 6.
That day, a group of Trump supporters rioted in the Capitol and failed to prevent President Joe Biden’s election victory from being officially certified by Congress. Before the riots, Trump addressed his supporters, repeating his false claims that the election was stolen, and urged them to go to the Capitol to “fight hard” to “stop the theft.”
The committee has stated that Bannon issued a public statement implying that he knew in advance the “extreme events” that would take place on January 6. Bannon said in a podcast on January 5, “Everything will break out tomorrow.”
After the House of Representatives voted to contempt Bannon, the Biden Justice Department, led by Attorney General Merrick Garland, decided whether to bring charges. Garland said in a statement on Friday that his department “adheres to the rule of law, follows facts and the law, and pursues equality and justice under the law.”
Trump sued the committee and the National Archives on October 18, which kept information from his presidency in order to keep hundreds of pages of records confidential. A judge dismissed Trump’s lawsuit on Tuesday, saying that it is important to understand the public interest of Trump’s January 6 actions. Trump appealed the ruling.
The last successful prosecution for contempt of Congress was in 1974, when a judge found G. Gordon Liddy guilty, and he was a conspirator in the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.
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