Steve Bannon, a former adviser to Donald Trump, has been charged with contempt of Parliament. Bannon refused to appear at a US House of Representatives hearing as a panel wanted him to question his role in the January 6 storming of the Capitol. Bannon also refused to submit documents the House of Representatives wanted to see.
House wanted to question Bannon about statements he made in his podcast the day before the Capitol storming. “Hell opens tomorrow,” warned Trump’s former top adviser. In doing so, according to the House of Representatives, Bannon created the impression that he knew what was going to happen. This means that the intrusion did not happen spontaneously, but was prepared in advance.
Bannon’s trial is the latest in an investigation in which Trump and his cohorts have been rehearsing for months on what exactly happened on January 6. A House special committee is investigating former President Trump’s role in the break-in and whether he did anything illegal. However, Trump prevented his closest aides from appearing before the committee. In doing so, it invokes “executive privilege”, which is the president’s right to communicate confidentially with his employees. Earlier this week, a federal court ruled that Trump himself is not obligated to release any documents about his complete communications in the lead-up to the storming of the Capitol at this time.
CNN writes that Bannon’s trial is now sending shockwaves through Washington. The message to Trump’s entourage is clear: Those who do not cooperate will face consequences. Bannon could face at least 30 days in prison.
The man who made Trump president
Steve Bannon is seen as the man who helped Trump win the election in 2016. Prior to that, Bannon was the editor-in-chief of the conservative right-wing news website Breitbart. After Trump was sworn in, Bannon went to work in the White House as one of Trump’s top advisers. However, Bannon suffered the same fate as many of Trump’s other associates: the president soon got into trouble with him. Bannon left the White House six months later.
For a long time Bannon was persona non grata to Trump, but in the meantime relations improved again. This was evident from the fact that Trump pardoned Bannon on his last day as president. Bannon was accused of fraud related to the construction of a wall along the border with Mexico.
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