Steve Bannon, talk show host and former White House advisor to former President Donald Trump, arrives at the FBI’s Washington field office to turn himself in to federal authorities after being indicted for refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena over the January 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, November 15, 2021.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon surrendered Monday to federal authorities in Washington, D.C., where he faces criminal charges after defying a subpoena from the lawmakers investigating the deadly Capitol invasion.
Bannon, 67, was charged with two counts of contempt of Congress following his refusal to comply with demands to produce documents and sit for a deposition as part of that investigation.
Each count of contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a maximum fine of $100,000.
Appearing outside the FBI’s Washington field office before turning himself in, Bannon claimed he and his allies were “taking down the Biden regime.”
“I want you guys to stay focused, stay on message,” Bannon said in remarks being livestreamed to a right-wing social media platform.
Bannon is just one name on a growing list of former President Donald Trump‘s associates called to cooperate with the bipartisan House select committee’s probe of Jan. 6, when hundreds of Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol and temporarily stopped Congress from confirming President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.
Select committee chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and vice chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said Friday they are considering contempt proceedings against another Trump ally — former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows — for failing to comply with their subpoena.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., another committee member, on Sunday said a criminal contempt referral for Meadows is already in the works.
A lawyer for Bannon told the House select committee in October that he would not comply with its subpoena because Trump had instructed him not to produce any documents or testimony “concerning privileged material.”
Bannon was a senior White House advisor during the first seven months of Trump’s single term in office. He was fired by Trump years before the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, which is the subject of the select committee’s investigation.
Thompson rejected the reference to executive privilege, the doctrine that allows some executive branch officials to keep some communications confidential, as an argument for noncompliance with a congressional subpoena.
The select committee shortly thereafter sent a contempt resolution to the full House of Representatives, which voted 229-209 to hold Bannon in contempt.
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