After he was indicted by a federal grand jury last week on two counts of contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a House Jan. 6 select committee-issued subpoena Steve Bannon surrendered himself on Monday to the FBI.
The one-time Trump White House strategist will be processed by the FBI and is set to appear for a hearing in court later on Monday. However, Bannon has recently tapped both Trump impeachment attorney David Schoen and Evan Corcoran, expanding his legal team to fight the charges.
Many observers, mostly those belonging to Bannon’s friends circle, argue there’s probably no one that has enjoyed being indicted more than Bannon, who sees this as political theatre and as an opportunity to additionally promote his already high-rating podcast and to cast himself as MAGA martyr.
Bannon is facing 30 days to a year in jail as well as a fine of $100 to $1,000 if convicted on the two charges of criminal contempt of Congress, filed on Friday by the Department of Justice.
House Intelligence chairman Adam Schiff believes that Bannon’s indictment might “convince” other uncooperative witnesses- such as the former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows – to cooperate with the committee.
A mounting number of former White House employees failed to appear for a deposition last Friday.
As part of its investigation into the Capitol riot, the select committee has subpoenaed dozens of former Trump aides but Bannon is the first person charged by the Justice Department for contempt of Congress since the 1980s.
Bannon also faced criminal charges in August 2020 with defrauding donors for a private effort to fund Trump’s border wall’s completion, but was ultimately pardoned by the Than-President Trump.
Be the first to comment