Steve Bannon on trial for refusing to cooperate with Capitol attack investigation
Steve Bannon had played a crucial role in the election of Donald Trump in 2016.
American justice begins on Monday the selection of jurors to examine the refusal by Steve Bannon, a close associate of Donald Trump, to cooperate with the parliamentary inquiry into the assault on the Capitol.
A discreet but very influential adviser, he played a crucial role in the election of the Republican billionaire in 2016, giving a resolutely populist turn to his campaign, before being pushed out the following year .
The two men, who remained close, had chatted in the days leading up to the January 6, 2021 attack on Congressional headquarters, according to the House of Commons Committee. representatives tasked with shedding light on the role of the former president in this coup.
To find out the nature of their discussions, the commission subpoenaed Steve Bannon to testify and produce documents. He had refused, invoking the right of presidents to keep certain conversations secret.
His refusal led to him being charged in November with obstructing the prerogatives of ;Congress investigation.
As his trial approached, the 68-year-old had turned around and agreed to cooperate with parliamentarians. The prosecutors had denounced a last-minute reversal in order to avoid a conviction and the judge responsible for the case wished to maintain the trial.
His lawyers also asked, in vain, a postponement of the trial for fear that the jurors will be swayed by the broadcast of the hearings of the commission of inquiry, the next of which is scheduled for Thursday evening at prime time.
After more than a year of investigation, this one will detail the day of January 6 as experienced by Donald Trump, what has been done and what has not been done, has explained Sunday the elected Democrat Zoe Lofgren on the ABC channel.
The Republican is suspected of having done nothing for nearly three hours, while his supporters invaded the Capitol, sowed violence and chaos and forced elected officials to interrupt the certification of Joe Biden's presidential victory.
