Trump adviser Bannon charged after defying Capitol riot subpoena
Bannon, 67, was charged with one count of contempt of Congress for refusing to appear for a deposition and a second count for refusing to produce documents.
Stephen Bannon, a prominent adviser to former U.S. President Donald Trump, has been criminally charged for defying a subpoena issued by a congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the Justice Department said on Friday.
Bannon has refused to cooperate with the House of Representatives select committee seeking testimony and documents from him, citing Trump’s insistence – already rejected by one judge – that he has a right to keep the requested material confidential under a legal doctrine called executive privilege.
Bannon, 67, was charged with one count of contempt of Congress for refusing to appear for a deposition and a second count for refusing to produce documents. Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a maximum fine of $1,000, the Justice Department said.
Justice Department spokesperson Bill Miller said Bannon is “expected to self-surrender” on Monday in Washington and make his first court appearance in the case that afternoon.
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Trump has sought to stonewall the committee, which is scrutinizing his actions relating to the deadly Capitol riot, and directed his former associates not to cooperate. The charges against Bannon may bolster the committee’s efforts to secure testimony and documents from other Trump associates.
Bannon’s indictment was announced just hours after Trump’s former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows refused to appear for a deposition before the committee, risking also being found in contempt of Congress.
As a top adviser to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign who later served as White House chief strategist, Bannon helped articulate the “America First” right-wing populism and fierce opposition to immigration that helped define Trump’s presidency.
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Bannon, who has promoted a variety of right-wing causes and candidates in the United States and abroad, continued to offer Trump advice after leaving his White House post in 2017. Bannon is a prominent figure in right-wing media circles and previously headed the Breitbart News website.
“Steve Bannon’s indictment should send a clear message to anyone who thinks they can ignore the Select Committee or try to stonewall our investigation: no one is above the law,” Democrat Bennie Thompson and Republican Liz Cheney, the leaders of the committee, said in a statement.
Bannon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It is the second time in 15 months that Bannon has faced criminal charges. Bannon was charged in August 2020 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-bannon/steve-bannon-key-to-trumps-rise-charged-with-defrauding-border-wall-supporters-idUSKBN25G1J4 with defrauding donors to We Build the Wall, a private fund-raising effort to boost Trump’s wall project along the U.S.-Mexican border, and arrested aboard a yacht belonging to a fugitive Chinese billionaire. Trump subsequently issued a pardon https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-pardons/trump-pardons-ex-aide-bannon-but-not-himself-or-family-idUSKBN29P0BE to Bannon before that case could go to trial.
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