Assault on the Capitol in the United States: Steve Bannon, close to Donald Trump, indicted for refusing to testify – franceinfo

Steve Bannon, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, was charged with “obstructing” the investigative prerogatives of Congress on Friday, November 12. The 67-year-old former adviser is being sued for refusing to testify and submit documents to the House of Representatives special committee investigating the role of the former US president in his supporters’ attack on the Capitol, January 6.

This indictment “should send a clear message to anyone who thinks they can ignore the commission or try to obstruct our investigation: no one is above the law”, responded Bennie Thompson, Democratic chairman of the commission of inquiry. Despite his summons in mid-October, Steve Bannon did not appear before elected officials invoking the right of presidents to keep certain documents and discussions confidential. According to the commission, this protection does not apply because Donald Trump is no longer president and has never officially asserted this privilege of the executive.

Steve Bannon was not in any official position on Jan.6, but appears to have discussed the protest with the president in the previous days, according to the commission of inquiry. His testimony is seen as essential, because it is supposed to help understand what Donald Trump was doing before and during the assault. “He’s a piece of the puzzle”, explained Adam Kinzinger, one of the two elected Republican members of this commission with a Democratic majority. “There are his comments from the day before January 6” who seem to prove “that he knew what was going to happen, added the elected, we want to know what he knew “. On January 5, Steve Bannon notably said on a podcast that “everything converges and it’s time to attack”.

He was also part of the “crisis cell” led by advisers to the former president from a luxury Washington hotel before and after the assault on Congress headquarters. He faces between 30 days and a year in prison on each count and will be tried in federal court. But the legal battle could take months or years, potentially undermining the investigation.