Steve Bannon, former close adviser to Donald Trump, was convicted on Friday July 22 of obstructing the investigative powers of Congress by a federal court, after refusing to cooperate with the commission on the assault on the Capitol.
The 68-year-old man, a figure of far-right populism in the United States and director of Donald Trump’s successful campaign in 2016, will experience his sentence in October. The jury of a federal court in Washington deliberated for less than three hours on Friday to conclude that he was guilty on the two charges against him. He faces between a month and a year in prison for each of these counts.
Even after being ousted from the White House in August 2017, Steve Bannon remained close to Donald Trump and spoke with him the day before the January 6, 2021 attack on Congressional headquarters. To find out the nature of their discussions, the parliamentary commission of inquiry responsible for shedding light on the role of the former president in this coup had summoned Mr. Bannon to testify and produce documents. He had refused, invoking the right of presidents to keep certain conversations secret, which had earned him the charge of“impediment” to the work of Congress.
silent defense
At the opening of the proceedings on Tuesday, prosecutor Amanda Vaughn had accused Steve Bannon of believing himself “above the law”. Mr. Bannon has “ignored orders to comply, even after Congress dismissed his pretenses, and brushed aside numerous warnings that he would face prosecution if he failed to comply with the subpoena as he was required to do it “added Amanda Vaughn.
According to her, the commission had legitimate reasons to believe that he, like others close to the president, could have information on the links between Donald Trump and his supporters who stormed the Capitol as parliamentarians certified the Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
The defense did not produce any witnesses at the trial, which began Monday with jury selection, and Steve Bannon did not speak in his own defense. His lawyer, Evan Corcoran, however, denounced political prosecution, assuring that ” nobody has[vait] ignored the subpoena” and that negotiations had even taken place with the commission regarding his date of deposition.
“It’s the first round”
As his trial approached, Steve Bannon had agreed to cooperate with the parliamentarians. The prosecutors had denounced “a last-minute reversal in order to avoid” a conviction and the judge in charge of the case, Carl Nichols, had wished to maintain the trial.
David Schoen, one of Steve Bannon’s lawyers, said outside the courthouse that the verdict would not stand. ” It’s the first round ” he said. ” You will see that this case will be overturned on appeal. The defendant himself said: We may have lost a battle today, but we will not lose this war. »
Chairman of the House Inquiry into the Capitol Storming, Bennie Thompson, and Deputy Chairman, Republican Liz Cheney, both hailed the court’s decision as “a victory for the rule of law”. “Just as everyone responsible for the events of January 6 must be held accountable, anyone who obstructs our investigation into the facts must face the consequences.”they said in a statement.