(Washington) Steve Bannon, a former adviser to Donald Trump, has turned around and agreed to testify before the parliamentary committee responsible for investigating the deadly attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, just days before a lawsuit against him is due to begin. To obstruct the investigation, US media reported Sunday.
Posted at 6:59
Updated at 9:54 am
“Mr Bannon wishes, and would indeed prefer, to testify at the public hearing,” his lawyer, Robert Costello, wrote Saturday in a letter relayed to the media.
Steve Bannon is among dozens of people called to testify in the attack on the US Capitol Hill that left five dead and undermined American democracy. He initially refused to testify and was accused last November of obstructing the investigation.
On January 6, 2021, thousands of supporters of outgoing Republican President Donald Trump gathered in Washington to denounce the outcome of the November 2020 presidential election, which was won by Democrat Joe Biden.
Investigators believe Bannon and other Trump advisers may have information about the White House’s ties to the mob that thronged the Capitol that day in an effort to prevent Joe Biden’s victory from being certified.
Although Mr. Bannon was not employed by the White House at the time and is no longer an official adviser to Mr. Trump, his lawyers have protested to protect the presidents’ right to keep certain documents and discussions confidential because he did not appear. Before the Commission of Inquiry in October 2021.
The committee found that this protection does not apply because Mr. Trump is no longer president and has never formally confirmed this executive privilege.
Mr Bannon was charged in November 2021 with “obstructing” the investigative powers of Congress, and then his trial was set to begin July 18.
According to M.’s letter.e Costello, Mr Bannon told the inquiry that “conditions have now changed”.
“President Trump has decided that it would be in the interests of the American people to waive Stephen K. Bannon’s executive privilege in order to authorize Mr. Bannon to comply with your committee’s subpoena.”
The testimony of 68-year-old Steve Bannon is seen as necessary, as it is supposed to help understand what Donald Trump was doing before and during the attack. The day before, Mr. Bannon said in a podcast that “everything is converging and it’s time to strike”.
Steve Bannon, a conservative but highly influential adviser, played an important role in the election of Donald Trump in 2016 before being removed from office the following year.
He was not performing any official duties on January 6, but he appears to have discussed the protest with the president in the previous days, according to the investigative committee.
He was notably part of the “crisis cell” led by Mr Trump’s advisers from a luxury hotel in Washington before and after the attack on Capitol Hill.
