The commission of inquiry into the facts of January 6 unanimously approved the request for indictment of outrage in Congress against Steve Bannon, the former strategist of Donald Trump, for refusing to testify on the assault on Capitol Hill. After the commission, the entire chamber of the Chamber will vote, probably on 21 October, on the request for intervention by the Department of Justice against Bannon, who could therefore also be arrested for failure to comply with the subpoena.
Bannon “alone in the challenge to Congress”
The commission’s chairman, Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson, said Bannon “is alone in his total defiance of our subpoena” and added that the former Trump strategist may be “willing to be a martyr” to “disguise What happened on January 6 and demonstrate his “complete loyalty” to the former president.
The defense of the guru Alt Right
The clash between Bannon and the commission of inquiry has reached the last act. In fact, the latest attempt by the American far-right guru to postpone the vote was not accepted, appealing to the fact that former President Donald Trump in turn filed an appeal against the request made by the commission to the national archives to be delivered all the documents of the former administration after the assault on Congress. In his appeal, Trump argues that the documents are covered by the executive privilege, the same to which Bannon appeals, by refusing to comply with the subpoena sent by Congress. Bannon’s lawyer had asked the commission to postpone the vote on the possible indictment of his client by one week “so that the impact of this appeal can be assessed.”
Thompson’s motivations
Commission chair Thompson refused the request, saying the investigation is “extremely important and urgent for the nation. Any further delay on the part of Mr. Bannon to comply with the mandate compromises the ability of this commission to complete its task on time, ”he added. The commission also published a letter from the White House reminding that only the incumbent president, Joe Biden, has the authority to appeal executive privilege. Not to mention, he concludes that “Bannon’s office in the White House ended in 2017”.