Status: 20.10.2021 3:30 a.m.
The former chief strategist of ex-US President Trump should come to court. He had refused to testify to Congress about the storming of the Capitol last week. Now the Democrats want to sue him.
The committee of inquiry into the processing of the attack on the US Capitol on January 6th wants to bring the former Trump adviser Steve Bannon to court. The committee unanimously adopted a report that evening (local time) finding Bannon’s disregard for Congress.
In a next step, the House of Representatives, dominated by US President Joe Biden’s Democrats, has to vote on it before the case goes to court. Bannon was Republican Donald Trump’s chief strategist for the first few months of his presidency. Bannon had failed to comply with a summons before the committee on Thursday last week. He invoked the president’s prerogative to withhold certain information from Congress or courts – the so-called executive privilege.
Bannon is said to have had prior knowledge of plans for violence
The report now adopted says that even if Trump could seek this privilege, it would not relieve Bannon of his duty to testify before the committee. Bannon’s refusal has no legal basis and violates legal provisions.
The committee in the US House of Representatives is to investigate the background to the attack on the Capitol. Supporters of Trump stormed the seat of the US Congress in Washington on January 6th. Five people were killed, including a police officer. Bannon is suspected of having prior knowledge of plans for violent protests. The day before the storming of the Capitol he had said in his podcast: “Tomorrow all hell breaks loose.”