A federal grand jury of the United States has filed two indictments for contempt on Friday against former adviser to former President Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, for refusing to cooperate with the congressional committee that investigate the assault that occurred on the Capitol on January 6.
This has been announced by the United States Attorney General, Merrick Garland, who stressed that these charges demonstrate “the firm commitment” of the Department of Justice with “The rule of law” and “equality” for all when it comes to justice.
Bannon, who helped run the Trump campaign in 2016 and was its main political strategist Until he left the White House in 2017, he has been charged with two counts of contempt, one of them for not appearing to testify and another for not presenting a series of documents that were required of him.
While the contempt charge can carry penalties of up to one year in prison, questions have been raised about how much authority a House committee may have to compel former government officials to do so. cooperate with investigations.
Bannon’s attorney, Robert Costello, has argued that Bannon’s failure to appear responds to a request from Trump, who has been evoking the “executive privilege” that he has been president to keep statements and reports secret, despite the fact that the current White House tenant, Joe Biden, has rejected such a prerogative due to the “extraordinary nature” of the case.
Bannon’s conversation with Trump
Despite the fact that Bannon no longer worked for the White House in the period under investigation, the House committee maintains that he had a conversation with Trump in the moments before the assault on the Capitol, also being present in the room of the Willard Hotel, in Washington, in which several associates of the tycoon met, while the incidents took place.
“Mr. Bannon appears to have played a multifactorial role in the events of January 6, and the American people have the right to hear their first-hand testimony“was the justification of the committee to demand his presence.
Legal experts have also expressed skepticism about Bannon’s decision not to comply with the subpoena, given that the question of whether Trump as former president can assert the privilege is unresolved and that Bannon was not working for the government in the period under review by the committee.
In the last hours, the former White House chief of staff, Mark MeadowsNor has he appeared before the commission, as the US network CNN has learned, which could open another criminal proceeding against him like Bannon’s. Who did attend the appointment last week was Jeffrey Clark, an official of the Department of Justice with Trump, although he declined to respond.
– .
