Bannon surrenders to the FBI after being charged with criminal contempt

(CNN) – Steve Bannon, a former adviser to then-President Trump, arrived at the FBI field office in Washington on Monday to turn himself in after being charged with criminal contempt Friday.

“We’re going to end the Biden regime,” Bannon defied when he addressed the television cameras.

Bannon is expected to appear for the first time in federal court on Monday afternoon.

Before turning himself in, Bannon started a live broadcast on social media telling his followers to “stay focused”.

“I don’t want anyone to take their eyes off what we do every day, okay?” Bannon told the camera on his ‘WarRoom’ web show.

The 67-year-old was charged with one count of refusing to testify and one of failing to provide documents in connection with the House Select Committee’s investigation into the January 6 mutiny in the U.S. Capitol.

Bannon continued, “We have Hispanics on our side, blacks on our side. We bring down the Biden regime every day.”

“I want you to focus on the message,” Bannon said before entering the FBI. “Thank you so much”.

Bannon indictment

The US Department of Justice announced Friday that a federal grand jury has indicted Bannon for contempt of Congress.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has been under tremendous political pressure to impeach Bannon since the House of Representatives referred Trump’s ally to the Department of Justice for contempt on October 21.

Without an indictment, critics said, there are questions about the authority of the commission investigating the January 6 attack to compel former White House and Trump administration officials to cooperate.

Sources familiar with the investigation told CNN, on Friday, that former White House Secretary-General Mark Meadows did not appear to obtain testimony, which leads to a potential confrontation that may prompt the commission to initiate criminal referral proceedings against him.