The House of Representatives of the United States is set to vote on Thursday to hold Steve Bannon, a long-term advisor to former President Donald Trump, in contempt of Congress for failing to aid in the investigation into the fatal attack on the Capitol, Reuters reports.
Steve Bannon has disagreed to cooperate with committee subpoenas for records and hearings, claiming that Donald Trump’s assertion that his conversations are safeguarded by the legal theory of executive privilege, which is contested by some legal academics.
The charges were overwhelmingly approved by the Democratic-led Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol on Tuesday. This set up a vote in the House of Representatives, where Democrats had a small majority.
With approval, the matter will be referred to the Department of Justice, where the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia will assess the situation.
The Justice Department has an “obligation” to present a House contempt citation before a grand jury, according to an 1857 legislation termed as the contempt of Congress act.
However, the Justice Department has previously stated that it makes the final call about prosecuting people who refuse to comply with congressional subpoenas. The last prosecution for contempt of Congress that ended in success took place in 1974 when a court convicted Watergate conspirator G. Gordon Liddy after he was found guilty of the crime.
Most Republicans in Congress rejected the idea to form a commission to look into the developments of Jan. 6, when thousands of Right-wingers moved on the Capitol following his fiery speech instructing them to rebel against his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the November 2020 election, which he continues to claim was “hijacked.”
On the day of the attack, four civilian deaths were reported, in addition to one Capitol police officer who lost his life the following day after he succumbed to injuries he received in defending the nation’s capital. Hundreds of cops were hurt, and four of them have subsequently committed suicide.
Trump went on to claim erroneously that his election loss was due to fraud. That allegation has been refuted by many courts, state election authorities, and the Trump administration members.
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