Dhe US right-wing populist and former presidential adviser Steve Bannon has been found guilty of contempt of Congress. A jury in Washington on Friday found former President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist guilty. The sentence for the 68-year-old will be announced at a later date. Bannon faces a prison sentence of between 30 days and a year. A fine is also possible. It appeared to be a minor procedural crime, the court said. The jury deliberated for less than three hours.
The former Trump adviser ignored a subpoena from the parliamentary inquiry into the Capitol storming on January 6, 2021. He also refused to hand over documents. Bannon’s lawyer had argued in vain in the trial, which only began on Monday in federal court, that his client had not deliberately resisted the subpoena. Rather, the date of the survey was “the subject of ongoing discussions”.
The U-Committee believes Bannon is a key witness. According to the panel, the right-wing populist spoke to Trump the day before the storming. In his own podcast, Bannon also predicted at the time that “hell will break out”. Radical Trump supporters then stormed Congress when the election victory of Trump’s challenger Joe Biden was to be officially confirmed.
Bannon had been a central figure in Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. After his election victory, Bannon then became chief strategist in the White House. Trump fired him in August 2017.
Trump denounces committee as ‘mock court’
Former US President Donald Trump had previously attacked the parliamentary committee of inquiry into the storming of the Capitol, calling it a “mock court”. In the online network Truth Social, which he founded himself, Trump criticized the body on Friday as “corrupt and highly partisan”.
In a public hearing on Thursday, the congressional committee accused Trump of willful inaction when his supporters stormed the US Congressional seat in Washington on January 6, 2021. Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger said the then-president refused for hours to recall the attackers — in violation of his oath of office.
The next day, Trump reiterated his unsupported claim that his defeat by current President Joe Biden in the November 2020 election was a result of manipulation. “An election was rigged and stolen from me and our country. America is going to hell. Should I be happy?” wrote the 76-year-old, who is considering running for the White House again in 2024.
Trump questioned why the U-Committee hadn’t questioned the Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting the president, about allegations made against him. “Because they know the answer and they don’t like it. A mock court!” Trump wrote. He was referring to allegations that on January 6, 2021, he tried to wrest control of his limousine from the driver to join the protesters.
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