(Trends Wide) — A federal investigative jury has indicted former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon for contempt of Congress, the US Department of Justice announced Friday.
Secretary Merrick Garland has been under enormous political pressure to impeach Bannon since the House referred Trump’s ally to the Justice Department for contempt on October 21.
Without an indictment, critics have said, there are questions about the power of the commission investigating the January 6 assault to force former White House and Trump administration officials to cooperate. On Friday, former White House Secretary General Mark Meadows did not appear for a deposition, sources familiar with the investigation told Trends Wide, leading to a possible confrontation that could lead the panel to initiate criminal referral proceedings against him. .
And last week, former Trump Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, who had been subpoenaed, appeared before the commission for more than an hour, but declined to answer questions.
The commission issued a subpoena to obtain documents and Bannon’s testimony in October.
Bannon’s attorney, Robert Costello, told the commission that Trump’s former adviser would not cooperate with the investigation because Trump had ordered him not to. Noting Trump’s claims that the documents and testimony being sought were potentially protected by executive privilege, Bannon’s attorney told the commission that “executive privileges belong to President Trump” and “we must accept his direction and honor his invocation. of executive privilege “.
(Trends Wide) — A federal investigative jury has indicted former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon for contempt of Congress, the US Department of Justice announced Friday.
Secretary Merrick Garland has been under enormous political pressure to impeach Bannon since the House referred Trump’s ally to the Justice Department for contempt on October 21.
Without an indictment, critics have said, there are questions about the power of the commission investigating the January 6 assault to force former White House and Trump administration officials to cooperate. On Friday, former White House Secretary General Mark Meadows did not appear for a deposition, sources familiar with the investigation told Trends Wide, leading to a possible confrontation that could lead the panel to initiate criminal referral proceedings against him. .
And last week, former Trump Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, who had been subpoenaed, appeared before the commission for more than an hour, but declined to answer questions.
The commission issued a subpoena to obtain documents and Bannon’s testimony in October.
Bannon’s attorney, Robert Costello, told the commission that Trump’s former adviser would not cooperate with the investigation because Trump had ordered him not to. Noting Trump’s claims that the documents and testimony being sought were potentially protected by executive privilege, Bannon’s attorney told the commission that “executive privileges belong to President Trump” and “we must accept his direction and honor his invocation. of executive privilege “.