A U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating the January 6 Capitol uprising unanimously supported the detention of a former senior aide to former President Donald Trump in contempt of Congress.
Steve Bannon was called to testify before the jury, but he refused to do so.
If the entire chamber were to approve the matter later this week, it would be referred to the Justice Department, which has the final say on the allegations.
If convicted, Mr. Bannon faces a fine and up to one year in prison.
Bannon – a former right-wing media executive who became Trump’s chief strategist – did not publicly comment on Tuesday’s vote in the nine-member House select committee.
Both Republicans and Democratic sects on the panel backed with contempt.
In her keynote address, Wyoming Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney said Bannon had “substantial knowledge in advance of the plans” for the January 6 protest and Trump’s plans to discredit the election result. presidential. .
Bannon, 67, was fired from the White House in 2017 and was not in government at the time of the uprising.
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Trump urged former aides to reject House committee requests, claiming the right to withhold information due to executive privilege, a legal principle that protects many White House communications.
He filed a lawsuit on Monday trying to prevent the House investigation from obtaining documents from US national archives.
President Joe Biden’s administration says Trump has no legitimate claim of privilege.
During a mostly peaceful protest, Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to stop certifying Biden’s election victory over Trump.
Hundreds of supporters of the former president have since been arrested.
The subpoena documents report that Bannon said on his radio show on the eve of the riot “all hell will break loose tomorrow.”
Mr Bannon has repeatedly stated that he has no intention of appearing before the committee.
Democrats say Bannon is slowing the process until after the November 2022 midterm elections, which could upset the balance of power in the House, which is the lower house of Congress.
Cases of outrage in Congress are notoriously difficult to contest – the last time such proceedings took place in 1983 against a Reagan administration official.
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