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Steve Bannon: Parliamentarian does not want to "tolerate" failure to testify
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Andrew Kelly / REUTERS
The right-wing populist strategist Steve Bannon faces criminal prosecution for refusing to testify to the US Congress about the storming of the Capitol on January 6th. Former advisor to ex-President Donald Trump failed to appear before a January 6 parliamentary committee of inquiry on Thursday, despite a subpoena. Committee chairman Bennie Thompson said the panel would "not tolerate" such behavior. The Democrat announced Bannon obstructing Congressional proceedings.
The committee will initially deal with this on Tuesday evening.
Then the House of Representatives would have to decide in plenary to bring a kind of complaint against Bannon to the Justice Department.
This would then have to decide on an indictment against the 67-year-old.
Bannon could theoretically face up to twelve months in prison, but a fine would be more likely.
Radical Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in January when the election victory of Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential election on November 3 was to be certified there.
Five people came to life in the chaos.
The House of Representatives, controlled by Biden's Democrats, subsequently set up a committee of inquiry to uncover the background to the storming of the Capitol.
Among other things, former employees of the Republican are to be interviewed, in addition to Bannon, Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Trump demands of them, however, to refuse to testify.
The ex-president claims a so-called executive privilege, which would allow him to withhold certain information.
The Democrats argue that this privilege exists only for incumbent presidents, not for former presidents.
Trump has not recognized his electoral defeat against Biden to this day.
The 75-year-old continues to spread the false claim that he was deprived of a second term through massive electoral fraud.
The right-wing populist, who is still very popular with the party base, repeatedly and publicly flirts with a possible candidacy in the 2024 presidential election.
ime / AFP