Steve Bannon, former Trump aide will face criminal charges over the snub to the US Capitol riot panel. The US Congressional committee investigating the January 6 insurrection is set to vote to recommend contempt charges against Steve Bannon. The former White House aide defied the panel’s subpoena to appear before it.
Bennie Thompson, a Democrat and the chairman of the panel said the vote by the committee to recommend the charges would take place next week. They would send the recommendation to the House of Representatives for a vote.
If the House votes to allow the contempt charges against Steve Bannon, the decision to prosecute will ultimately pass on to the US Justice Department.
Steve Bannon Directed To Appear Before January 6 Committee With Testimony And Documents
The committee had asked for testimony and documents from Steve Bannon. He had been in constant communication with then-President Donald Trump leading to the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill.
In a terse statement, Thompson said in a statement that the January 6 Committee would not tolerate defiance of the subpoenas. In response to his ignoring the summons, the committee has decided to move ahead with referring Bannon for criminal contempt.
The deposition with the committee was scheduled for Thursday. But Steve Bannon’s lawyer said that under instruction from Trump, they have decided not to attend the hearing.
Other depositions that included Kashyap Patel, an official of the Defense Department, former chief of staff Mark Meadows, and social media director, Dan Scavino were scheduled this week but got delayed.
The testimony by Steve Bannon is merely part of an escalating congressional inquiry. 19 subpoenas have gone out so far and thousands of pages of documents have come in.
The congressional committee views the defiance by Steve Bannon in a serious light. Such subpoenas were routinely flouted during Donald Trump’s period in office. The members are serious about restoring the binding force of congressional subpoenas. The committee has rejected his position entirely regarding his claimed privileges.
