A federal jury has indicted Steve Bannon, the one-time White House adviser to former President Trump, after he failed to comply with a subpoena from the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Bannon faces two charges of contempt of Congress after he failed to appear for an Oct. 14 deposition before the panel.
“Since my first day in office, I have promised Justice Department employees that together we would show the American people by word and deed that the department adheres to the rule of law, follows the facts and the law and pursues equal justice under the law,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement announcing the indictment.
“Today’s charges reflect the department’s steadfast commitment to these principles.”
The indictment indicates the Department of Justice is willing to seek criminal charges as the committee faces a mounting number of witnesses who are refusing to cooperate.
If convicted, Bannon faces a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of one year in jail, as well as a fine of $100 to $1,000. A federal district court judge will ultimately determine his sentence.
The House voted in late October to censure Bannon after he refused to meet with the committee, following directions from Trump who said he would challenge the committee’s moves as a violation of executive privilege.
“We are here this afternoon to test a proposition as old as the country’s founding. Are we a nation of laws? We are here because one man has decided that we are now only a nation of men, and that rich and powerful men need not follow the law. And the question we must confront is nothing less than this: Is he right?” Rep Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said ahead of the vote.
“Are some people now truly above the law, beholden to nothing and no one, free to ignore the law and without consequence?”
This report was originally published on The Hill.
