Committee on Capitol attack: Court finds former Trump adviser Bannon guilty

Bannon had ignored a summons from the investigative committee into Capital Storming: A jury in Washington found the former chief strategist of former President Trump guilty. He faces two years in prison.

Steve Bannon, former chief strategist to former President Donald Trump, has been convicted of contempt of Congress. The jury found him guilty of disobeying a summons to the Investigative Committee on January 6, 2021 in the Capital Storming in Washington. The U-Committee believes Bannon to be a key witness.

Imprisonment for two years possible

The punishment will be announced later. Bannon faces up to two years in prison. The two cases in which he was found guilty carry a minimum sentence of 30 days each.

Bannon was charged with failing to testify or release documents when presented by the committee last November.

Bannon’s attorney had argued in vain in the trial, which only began in federal court on Monday, that his client had deliberately not resisted the subpoena. Rather, the date of the survey was “the subject of ongoing discussions”.

In touch with Trump during the storm

Bannon, 68, co-founded the right-wing Internet platform Breitbart before Trump entered the White House. He was a central figure in Trump’s 2016 election campaign. The president fired him again in 2017.

So at the time of the storming of the Capitol, he no longer held an official position within the US government, but was in contact with Trump.

In his own podcast, Bannon even predicted at the time that “hell would break out”. Radical Trump supporters stormed Congress when the election victory of Trump rival Joe Biden was yet to be officially confirmed.