Former US Presidential Advisor Steve Bannon is on trial. He faces up to two years in prison for contempt of parliament. His lawyers tried in vain to postpone the trial. Because at the same time the hearings on the storming of the Capitol are taking place.
Former US Presidential Advisor Steve Bannon faces trial for contempt of Parliament. The trial of the 68-year-old former chief strategist of former President Donald Trump began in Washington on Monday with jury selection. Last year, Bannon ignored a subpoena from the parliamentary committee of inquiry into the Capitol storming of January 6, 2021 and also refused to hand over documents. He was subsequently indicted on two counts of obstruction of Congress.
After months of refusal, the right-wing populist mastermind recently made a U-turn and declared that he was now ready to testify before the committee. Prosecutors described the move as a “last-ditch attempt to evade responsibility.” Because his lawyers requested that the start of the trial be postponed so that it does not take place at the same time as the public hearings on the Capitol storming in the parliamentary inquiry committee.
However, a judge dismissed the request last week. If convicted, Bannon faces between 30 days and a year in prison per charge.
The investigative committee believes Bannon is a key witness in the investigation into the storming of the US House seat two months after Trump’s defeat in the presidential election. According to the committee of inquiry, Bannon had spoken to Trump the day before the storming.
After his defeat in the presidential election in November 2020, Trump pulled out all the stops to stay in power. Among other things, the Republican incumbent and those around him spread allegations of voter fraud that had not been proven.
The low point of the campaign was the storm of hundreds of radical Trump supporters on the Capitol, when Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory was to be certified there. Five people died in the riots.