Friday October 22, 2021
No testimony to the U committee
US Congress wants to sue Bannon
What did Steve Bannon know about possible preparations for a Capitol storm? The ultra-conservative former Trump strategist is supposed to testify in the committee to investigate the attack, but he does not appear. Now MPs have to decide whether that has any consequences.
The US House of Representatives has paved the way for criminal action against right-wing populist Steve Bannon for disregarding Congress. The background is the reappraisal of the attack on the US Capitol on January 6th. The Chamber of Parliament voted on Thursday to refer the case to the prosecutor. Now the Ministry of Justice has to decide whether to initiate criminal proceedings.
Bannon had failed to comply with a subpoena from the Capitol Investigation Committee. In the House of Representatives, which is dominated by the Democrats, 229 MPs have now voted in favor of bringing Bannon to court – 202 voted against. The vote went largely along the party lines. Few Republicans joined and voted for President Joe Biden’s Democrats. The committee of inquiry to investigate the attack had already unanimously adopted a report on Tuesday that found Bannon’s disregard for Congress. That was the first hurdle to bring Bannon to justice.
Even before it began its work, the committee had been the scene of political battles between Democrats and Republicans. Bannon had disobeyed a summons before the committee last week. Supporters of the former President Donald Trump stormed the seat of the US Congress in Washington on January 6th. Five people were killed, including a police officer. Bannon is suspected of having prior knowledge of plans for violent protests. On the day before the storming of the Capitol he had said in his podcast: “Tomorrow all hell breaks loose.”
“He knew what was going to happen”
“He knew what was going to happen before it happened,” Republican MP Liz Cheney said before the vote. You and Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger are the only Republican members on the committee. Both are outspoken critics of Trump and have therefore fallen out of favor with the Republicans. “There are people in this room who were evacuated that day, during this attack, with me and the rest of us. People who now seem to have forgotten the danger of this moment,” said Cheney. Bannon has no right to ignore the subpoena.
Former Trump strategist Bannon invokes the president’s prerogative to withhold certain information from Congress or the courts – the so-called executive privilege. Trump’s attorney had turned to Bannon and other subpoenas a few weeks ago and brought executive privilege into play. Bannon’s lawyer then emphasized that he would not transmit any documents or make any statements as long as open questions were not clarified.
“He’s a bogeyman for the Democratic Party,” complained Republican Jim Banks. Banks had been turned down as a member of the committee by the Democratic chairman of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. He is considered an ardent Trump supporter. “The Special Committee despises Steve Bannon’s policies. So they are abusing their power to put him in jail,” he said. Bannon is one of the most influential voices in the ultra-conservative camp of US politics. He is co-founder of the Internet platform “Breitbart”.
According to observers, prosecuting Bannons for disregarding Congress is unlikely to have serious consequences. It is true that there is a risk of imprisonment and a fine – but such a procedure could drag on for years and could lead to nothing due to appeals or acquittal. “We will (…) make a decision that is compatible with the principles of law enforcement,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said before the vote on his approach to the case.