America: they vote in favor of accusing Steve Bannon of contempt

WASHINGTON (AP) — A House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol voted unanimously Tuesday that former White House aide Steve Bannon was held in contempt of Congress because he An aide of former President Donald Trump had ignored a subpoena to produce documents and testimony.

Trump, who continues to defend his supporters who stormed the Capitol that day, has aggressively tried to block the commission’s work by instructing Bannon and others not to answer questions related to the investigation. The former president has also sued Congress for trying to prevent him from receiving documents from the former federal government.

However, lawmakers have made it clear they will not back down as they gather facts and testimony about the incident involving Trump supporters, in which dozens of police officers were injured, with lawmakers running for their lives. and obstructed the certification of the presidential election victory. Joe Biden.

Commission chairman Rep. Benny Thompson said Tuesday that Bannon is “alone in his defiance of the summons” and that the panel would not take it for an answer.

He said that while Bannon “may be willing to be martyred for the shameful cause of covering up what happened on January 6, to demonstrate his complete loyalty to the former president,” he favors the charge of contempt. Vote is a warning to other people.

“We won’t stop. We won’t be distracted. And we won’t be late,” Thompson said.

Tuesday afternoon’s vote sends the contempt motion to the full House of Representatives, which is scheduled to vote on the measure on Thursday. House’s approval would refer the case to the Justice Department, which would then decide on whether to file criminal charges against Bannon.

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Associated Press journalists Jill Colvin, Colleen Long, Zeke Miller, Noman Merchant and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.