Bannon indicted on contempt charges for defying subpoena
WASHINGTON — Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, was indicted Friday on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress after he defied a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The Justice Department said Bannon, 67, was indicted on one count for refusing to appear for a deposition last month and the other for refusing to provide documents in response to the committee’s subpoena. He is expected to surrender to authorities on Monday and will appear in court that afternoon, a law enforcement official told the AP. The person was granted anonymity to discuss the case.
The indictment came as a second witness, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, defied his own subpoena from the committee on Friday and as Trump has escalated his legal battles to withhold documents and testimony about the insurrection. The chairman of the Jan. 6 panel, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, said he will recommend contempt charges against Meadows next week.
If the House votes to hold Meadows in contempt, that recommendation could also be sent to the Justice Department for a possible indictment.
“Mr. Meadows, Mr. Bannon, and others who go down this path won’t prevail in stopping the Select Committee’s effort getting answers for the American people about January 6th, making legislative recommendations to help protect our democracy, and helping ensure nothing like that day ever happens again,” Democrat Thompson and the vice chairwoman of the panel, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, said in a statement.
The indictment is a victory for House Democrats, who saw dozens of Trump officials decline testimony and defy subpoenas during his presidency. The charges support the authority of Congress to investigate the executive branch and signal potential consequences for those who refuse to cooperate.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said Bannon’s indictment reflects the Justice Department’s “steadfast commitment” to ensuring that the department adheres to the rule of law. Each count carries a minimum of 30 days of jail and as long as a year behind bars.
The indictment alleges that Bannon didn’t appear before the committee as subpoenaed or produce required documents. It says he also didn’t communicate with the committee in any way from the time he received the subpoena on Sept. 24 until Oct. 7 when his lawyer sent a letter, seven hours after the documents were due.
Bannon, who worked at the White House at the beginning of the Trump administration and currently serves as host of the conspiracy-minded “War Room” podcast, is a private citizen who “refused to appear to give testimony as required by a subpoena,” the indictment says.
Meadows defied his subpoena on Friday after weeks of discussions with the committee. His lawyer said that Meadows has a “sharp legal dispute” with the panel as Trump has claimed executive privilege over his testimony, as he had with Bannon’s.
The former Republican congressman’s refusal to comply comes amid the legal battles between the committee and Trump as the former president has claimed privilege over documents and interviews the lawmakers are demanding.
The committee has subpoenaed almost three dozen people, including former White House staffers, Trump allies who strategized about how to overturn his defeat and people who organized the giant rally on the National Mall the morning of Jan. 6. While some, like Meadows and Bannon, have balked, others have spoken to the panel and provided documents.