Former Trump White House strategist Steve Bannon pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to two contempt of Congress charges stemming from his refusal to cooperate with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.
In a court filing ahead of a video conference scheduled for Thursday with U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, Bannon entered the plea and waived formal arraignment. Nichols will oversee the case.
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Bannon, 67, surrendered to the FBI on Monday after a grand jury indicted him late last week on the contempt charges. He was released without bail, though he did have to surrender his passport and agree to notify the court if he intends to travel outside Washington.
Bannon, once a top aide to Donald Trump, is accused of failing to comply with subpoenas issued by a House subcommittee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol. The insurrection led to five deaths and injured more than 140 officers.
Each contempt of Congress charge is punishable by up to one year in jail and $100,000 in fines.
The indictment alleges that Bannon was at the Willard Hotel the day before the riot, where he sought “to persuade Members of Congress to block the certification of the election the next day” and predicted that “all hell is going to break loose tomorrow.”
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Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), one of two Republicans on the Jan. 6 committee, said last month it appeared Bannon had “substantial advance knowledge” of the attack and had “no legal right” to ignore the subpoena.
Bannon was indicted earlier for his involvement in a scheme to fleece Trump supporters out of donations for a border wall, but was pardoned by the former president hours before he left office in January.
Source: huffpost
