Longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon has appeared before a judge to face federal contempt charges for defying a subpoena from a House committee investigating January’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Bannon appeared briefly before a federal magistrate judge in Washington on Monday, hours after he surrendered to FBI agents.
The 67-year-old was indicted on Friday on two counts of criminal contempt.
One of the counts charges him with refusing to appear for a congressional deposition and the other is for refusing to provide documents in response to the committee’s subpoena.
The indictment came as a second expected witness, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, defied a separate subpoena from the committee on Friday.
If the House votes to hold Meadows in contempt, that recommendation would also be sent to the Justice Department for a possible indictment.
Officials in both Democratic and Republican administrations have been held in contempt by Congress, but criminal indictments for contempt are exceedingly rare.
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The indictment against Bannon comes after a slew of Trump administration officials – including Bannon – defied requests and demands from Congress over the past five years with little consequence, including during an impeachment inquiry. President Barack Obama’s administration also declined to charge two of its officials who defied congressional demands.
The indictment says Bannon didn’t communicate with the committee in any way from the time he received the subpoena on Sept. 24 until Oct. 7 when his lawyer sent a letter, seven hours after the documents were due.
Bannon, who worked at the White House at the beginning of the Trump administration and currently serves as host of the conspiracy-minded “War Room” podcast, is a private citizen who “refused to appear to give testimony as required by a subpoena,” the indictment says.
When Bannon declined to appear for his deposition in October, his attorney said the former Trump adviser had been directed by a lawyer for Trump citing executive privilege not to answer questions.
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