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Steve Bannon was charged on Friday with two counts of contempt of Congress after refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the assault on the Capitol on 6 January.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the charges reflect the commitment of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to “show the American people word and deed that the department adheres to the rule of law, follows the facts and the law, and seeks equal justice under the law. ”
The Department of Justice specified in its statement that one of the charges was refers to his refusal to appear yet said committee, while the second is for refusing to deliver documents.
An indictment for contempt of Congress can take between 30 days to one year in prison , as well as a fine of between $ 100 and $ 1, 000 Dollars.
The U.S. House of Representatives held Bannon in contempt last 21 October , for refusing to appear before the investigative committee on the assault on the Capitol on January 6 by a mob of Trump supporters.
In particular, the House committee wants to question Bannon about the January 5 talks at the Willard Hotel, when pro-Trump activists tried to convince Republican legislators to block the certification of the elections to fa vor by Joe Biden. The committee’s subpoena also noted that Bannon was quoted predicting that “all hell will break loose” on January 6, according to The Washington Post.
Said statement went to the Department of Justice, which had to decide whether to proceed with the process.
At the moment, a date has not yet been set for a hearing on this case in federal District court Columbia.
The District Attorney for the District of Columbia, Matthew M. Graves, recalled in the statement that the committee investigating the assault on the Capitol issued the 23 of September a summons for Bannon to appear to testify and deliver documents, which was rejected by him.
In his summons, the legislative committee detailed that he believes that Bannon has information in his possession that is relevant to c understand what happened on January 6.
Bannon excused himself from appearing before the committee behind a lawsuit filed by Trump to prevent certain documents related to the assault on the Capitol see the light, asking the committee to postpone their appearance until Justice failed, which it rejected.
A criminal case against Bannon could take years to resolve.
According to the CNN television network, these types of cases for contempt of Congress have been historically disproved by juries compassionate towards the accused and by appeals.
With information from EFE
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