Steve Bannon.Photo: Alex Wong/Getty
TheJustice Department announcedtwo counts on Friday — one for refusing to sit for a deposition and another for refusing to provide the committee with relevant documents.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the charges reflect the principles of a Justice Department that “adheres to the rule of law, follows the facts and the law and pursues equal justice under the law.”
Each count of contempt of Congress carries a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of one year in jail, as well as a fine of $100 to $1,000, the Justice Department said.
Prosecutors presented the indictment and an arrest warrant to a federal magistrate on Friday,CNN reports. A judge signed the warrant for an indicted defendant with the initials “SB,” which a CNN source said was Bannon. A sourcealso told CNNthat Bannon is expected to turn himself in and appear in court on Monday.
Thompson and Rep. Liz Cheney, who serves as vice chairman of the committee, issued the following statement in response to the indictment: “Steve Bannon’s indictment should send a clear message to anyone who thinks they can ignore the Select Committee or try to stonewall our investigation: no one is above the law. We will not hesitate to use the tools at our disposal to get the information we need.”
The indictment is a big moment in a longer story about Trump’s tactics of non-cooperation. He hassued to block the committeefrom receiving documents from the National Archive.
Meanwhile, the committee’s demands for information from high-profile aides of the former president have been ignored.
Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff, appeared to miss his own deadline with the committee, which warned Meadows Thursday that a refusal to appear “would force the Select Committee to consider invoking the contempt of Congress procedures,“NPR reports.
source: people.com
