Trump’s aide risks jail term

A congressional committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol is pushing to bring criminal contempt charges against Steve Bannon, the former aide to Donald Trump, despite the ex-president’s best efforts to block the move.

Mr Bannon (pictured), who was Mr Trump’s chief strategist in the early days of his presidency, has refused to comply with a subpoena to testify about the riot, in which Trump s u p p o r t e r s stormed the Capitol in an attempt to prevent Congress

confirming Joe Biden’s election victory.

Mr Trump has directed his aides and allies not to work with the committee as he tries to take legal action to prevent it seizing his administration’s records from the National Archives. Mr Bannon could face a year in jail if convicted.

The committee listed Mr Bannon’s alleged involvement in the build-up to the insurrection. He is accused of advising Mr Trump that blocking the certification vote in Congress was his best hope of overturning the election defeat, and also of fomenting the deadly violence that followed.

The day before the riot, Mr Bannon warned that “all hell” was going to break loose.