The Congressional committee probing the violence at the US Capitol on January 6 announced it would vote on October 19 on whether to initiate criminal contempt charges against Steve Bannon, an adviser to former president Donald Trump.
Bannon had defied a subpoena to appear before the committee on Thursday.
Chairman of the special committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat, was quoted by Associated Press as saying, "The Select Committee will not tolerate defiance of our subpoenas... Bannon is hiding behind the former president's insufficient, blanket and vague statements regarding privileges he has purported to invoke. We reject his position entirely."
Rep. Jamie Raskin, another Democrat on the committee, told MSNBC that Bannon “is still under the spell of Donald Trump".
Associated Press reported that Bannon's lawyer had said Trump had directed him not to comply, citing information that was potentially protected by executive privileges afforded to a president.
If the committee, which has a Democratic majority, decides to recommend criminal charges, the matter would go to the full House for approval, which would then forward it to the Justice Department.
