Trump’s adviser charged for defying Capitol riot subpoena

WASHINGTON: Stephen Bannon, once a prominent adviser to former US President Donald Trump, has been criminally charged for defying a subpoena issued by a congressional committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol, the Justice Department said on Friday.

Bannon has refused to cooperate with the House of Representatives select committee seeking testimony and documents from him, citing Trump’s insistence – already rejected by one judge – that he has a right to keep the requested material confidential under a legal doctrine called executive privilege.

Bannon, 67, was charged with one count of contempt of Congress for refusing to appear for a deposition and a second count for refusing to produce documents. Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a maximum fine of $100,000.

Justice Department spokesperson Bill Miller said Bannon is "expected to self-surrender" on Monday in Washington and make his first court appearance in the case that afternoon.

Trump has sought to stonewall the committee, which is scrutinizing his actions relating to the deadly Capitol riot, and directed his former associates not to cooperate. The charges against Bannon may bolster the committee's efforts to secure testimony and documents from other Trump associates.

Bannon's indictment was announced just hours after Trump's former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows refused to appear for a deposition before the committee, risking also being found in contempt of Congress.

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Contempt of Congress prosecutions by the Justice Department have historically been both time-consuming and notoriously difficult to achieve, oftentimes ending in acquittal or dismissal on appeal.

The last time the department prosecuted a contempt referral was in 1983, during the Superfund investigation in the Ronald Reagan administration. Then Environmental Protection Agency official Rita Lavelle was charged with contempt but her case ended in acquittal.

It is the second time in 15 months that Bannon has faced criminal charges. Bannon was charged in August 2020 with defrauding donors to We Build the Wall, a private fund-raising effort to boost Trump's wall project along the U.S.-Mexican border. Trump subsequently issued a pardon to Bannon before that case could go to trial.

As a top adviser to Trump's 2016 presidential campaign who later served as White House chief strategist, Bannon helped articulate the "America First" right-wing populism and fierce opposition to immigration that helped define Trump's presidency.

Bannon, who has promoted a variety of right-wing causes and candidates in the United States and abroad, continued to offer Trump advice after leaving his White House post in 2017. Bannon is a prominent figure in right-wing media circles and previously headed the Breitbart News website.