Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s former political adviser, has been convicted of contempt of Congress after failing to comply with a subpoena issued by the committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
On Friday, Bannon was found guilty of two counts in US federal court in the District of Columbia: refusing to hand over documents and refusing to appear for a deposition, according to the US Department of Justice.
The former councilman, who will be sentenced on October 21, faces a fine of between $100 and $100,000, as well as a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of one year in jail on each count.
The subpoena “was not an invitation that could be refused or ignored,” Matthew Graves, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said in a statement. Bannon “had an obligation to appear before the House Select Committee to testify and provide documents. His refusal to do so was deliberate and now a jury has found that he must pay the consequences.”
Bannon was subpoenaed in September 2021 by the panel of lawmakers investigating the January 6 attack and was indicted by a federal grand jury for contempt of Congress in November.
Appearing on the courthouse steps shortly after the verdict, Bannon and his lawyer David Schoen indicated they would appeal the verdict. Bannon thanked the jury, but called the committee members “foolish” for not testifying during the trial.
recommended
Bannon was Trump’s chief political strategist during his 2016 campaign and worked in the White House from January to August 2017. The former president eventually fired Bannon that year after the neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville that he left a dead wife.
The Jan. 6 panel had approached Bannon for information about the Capitol riots, as he had attended meetings at the Willard Hotel in Washington before the event. During those meetings, efforts were made to persuade members of Congress to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election, according to the cover letter issued with Bannon’s subpoena.
At the final hearing of the summer session on Thursday, the committee on Jan. 6 showed how Trump ignored pleas to stop the insurgency and instead watched the attack on the Capitol escalate on Fox News for hours
The hearings, which are expected to resume in September, have revealed how Trump pressured US states and the Justice Department to block certification of the election despite close advisers telling him he had lost the vote.
The investigation has hurt the former president’s approval ratings while elevating other Republican lawmakers who are potentially seeking the 2024 nomination.