Steve Bannon should face criminal contempt charges over Capitol riot, says US House committee
A US congressional committee investigating the attack on the Capitol last January has voted unanimously in favour of criminal contempt charges against Steve Bannon, an aide to former President Donald Trump.
Mr Bannon refused to comply with a subpoena relating to Congress's inquiry into the Jan 6 insurrection and on Tuesday the seven members of the House of Representatives select committee approved a report recommending the prosecution by a 9-0 vote.
The committee, made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans, said it was "shocking" that Mr Bannon refused to comply with subpoenas seeking documents and testimony.
Approval of the report paved the way for the House to vote on whether to recommend contempt charges. That vote is set for Thursday, when the full, Democratic-controlled chamber is expected to approve the report.
Mr Bannon has said, through his lawyer, that he will not co-operate with the committee until Mr Trump's executive privilege claim is resolved by a court or through a settlement agreement.
"It's a shame that Mr Bannon has put us in this position," Representative Bennie Thompson, the panel's chairman, said. "But we won't take 'no' for an answer."
A spokesman for the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said prosecutors would "evaluate the matter based on the facts and the law" if the full House approves the recommendation.
Mr Bannon's lawyer did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday evening.
Mr Trump has urged former aides subpoenaed by the panel to reject its requests, claiming executive privilege. Mr Trump filed a lawsuit on Monday, alleging that the committee made an illegal, unfounded and overly broad request for his White House records, which committee leaders rejected.
Before leaving office in January, Mr Trump pardoned Mr Bannon of charges in which he was accused of swindling Trump supporters over an effort to raise funds to build the president's wall on the US-Mexico border. He had pleaded not guilty.
At Tuesday's meeting, Republican Representative Liz Cheney, the select committee's vice chair, said: "Mr Bannon's and Mr Trump's privilege arguments do appear to reveal one thing, however: They suggest that President Trump was personally involved in the planning and execution of Jan 6. And we will get to the bottom of that."
In its report, the committee argued that Mr Bannon made statements suggesting he knew ahead of time about "extreme events" on Jan 6, when Congress was scheduled to certify Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election.
Mr Bannon said on a Jan 5 podcast that "all hell is going to break loose tomorrow". The next day, thousands of Trump supporters descended on the Capitol.
Four people died on the day of the assault, and one Capitol police officer died the next day of injuries sustained in defense of the seat of Congress. Hundreds of police officers were injured and four have since taken their own lives.
More than 670 people have been charged with taking part in the riot, the worst attack on the US government since the War of 1812. The select committee has issued 19 subpoenas.
