Steve Bannon indicted for refusal to comply with Capitol attack subpoena – The Guardian

Donald Trumps former adviser Steve Bannon has been charged with contempt of Congress after failing to appear before a committee investigating the 6 January attack on the US Capitol.

The justice department said Bannon had been indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts: refusing to appear for a deposition and refusing to provide documents in response to the committees subpoena.

The CNN channel reported that an arrest warrant for Bannon had already been signed by a judge, while MSNBC said he was expected to give himself up on Monday and appear in court that afternoon.

The US attorney general, Merrick Garland, said the indictment reflected the justice departments steadfast commitment to ensuring it adhered to the rule of law, no matter who is accused of a crime.

Since my first day in office, I have promised justice department employees that together we would show the American people by word and deed that the department adheres to the rule of law, follows the facts and the law and pursues equal justice under the law, Garland said.

Each count carries between 30 days and a year in jail. The indictment the first for criminal contempt of Congress in nearly 40 years will come as a relief to Trump critics who feared that Garland was being overly cautious and moving too slowly.

Bannon, 67, is a former executive chairman of Breitbart News, which he once described as the platform of the alt-right, a movement that embraced racism and antisemitism. He became chairman of Trumps 2016 election campaign and then his White House chief strategist but lasted less than a year.

Bannon pushed false conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and prophesied on his podcast on 5 January: All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. That evening he was part of a gathering of Trump allies at the Willard hotel in Washington that the House of Representatives committee has called the war room.

That naturally made him a person of interest but Bannons lawyer told the House committee in October that he would not cooperate, citing an assertion of executive privilege by Trump. Legal experts were quick to point out that Bannon was a private citizen at the time of the insurrection so this argument had little merit.

Last month the House voted 229-202 to hold Bannon in contempt. Nine Republicans supported the resolution.

The 6 January committee was created by the House to investigate the attack, in which a pro-Trump mob rampaged through the Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the certification of Joe Bidens 2020 election victory over Trump.

Some of the committees work has been stymied by a lack of cooperation from top Trump administration officials who have refused to comply with subpoenas to testify or turn over documents.

Earlier on Friday, Trumps former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows failed to appear before the committee. He also faces a criminal referral to the justice department for contempt.

The committee chairman, Bennie Thompson, and vice-chair, Liz Cheney, said in a joint statement: Its unfortunate that Mr Meadows has chosen to join a very small group of witnesses who believe they are above the law and are defying a Select Committee subpoena outright.

The Select Committee has talked with more than 150 individuals who are engaging and cooperating with our probe and providing critical details. And while were determined to get all the information were seeking, Mr Meadows, Mr Bannon, and others who go down this path wont prevail in stopping the Select Committees effort getting answers for the American people about January 6th.

Congressman Adam Kinzinger, a Republican on the committee, told CNN he hoped the indictment of Bannon would send a chilling message to other subpoena recipients.

It sends a really important message to future invited witnesses You cannot ignore Congress, Kinzinger said.

Joe Lockhart, a former White House press secretary, tweeted: The only way to make the indictment of Bannon truly meaningful and a strong message to the others defying the law is to remand him prison, no bail available. That will send the message. Hope the Judge has been watching all this.

Bannons attorney did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

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Steve Bannon indicted for refusal to comply with Capitol attack subpoena - The Guardian