Steve Bannon has arrived at the FBI offices in Washington, DC, to surrender on contempt of Congress charges after he defied a subpoena from a House committee investigating the Capitol riot.
"This is all noise. I want you guys to stay focused on the message. [...] We're taking down the Biden regime," he said upon his arrival to the FBI's Washington field office as he was met by a swarm of reporters.
Bannon eventually appeared before the court later Monday before US Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather, who allowed the former Trump adviser to be released on supervised release.
As part of the agreement, Bannon was instructed to comply with pre-trial conditions such as surrendering his passport, notify pre-trial services of any domestic travel and receive court approval for any international travel. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday before Judge Carl Nichols, who was appointed by Trump.
Shortly after leaving the courtoom, Bannon told reporters at the scene that the charge against him would be the "misdemeanor from hell for [US Attorney General] Merrick Garland, [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi and [US President] Joe Biden."
"They took on the wrong guy," Bannon added. "We're going on the offense."
The 67-year-old was indicted last week on two counts of criminal contempt: one for refusing to appear for a congressional deposition and the other for refusing to provide documents in response to the committee's subpoena.
Bannon may now face up to two years in prison if convicted on both counts.
Steve Bannon, talk show host and former White House advisor to former President Donald Trump, arrives at the FBI's Washington field office to turn himself in to federal authorities after being indicted for refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena over the January 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., November 15, 2021.
© REUTERS / KEVIN LAMARQUE
Donald Trump has previously slammed the indictment against his former adviser, saying "this country has perhaps never done to anyone what they have done to Steve Bannon," warning that "they are looking to do it to others, also."
Bannon was among a handful of Republicans subpoenaed by the US House Select Committee, which was established to investigate the 6 January Capitol riot. Ex-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has flouted a subpoena from the committee too, with the panel also threatening to hold him in contempt.
Should the House vote to hold Meadows in contempt, the recommendation would also be sent to the Justice Department for a potential indictment.
"Mr. Meadows, Mr. Bannon, and others who go down this path won’t prevail in stopping the Select Committee’s effort getting answers for the American people about January 6th, making legislative recommendations to help protect our democracy, and helping ensure nothing like that day ever happens again," Reps. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said in a statement.
Last month, former US president Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against the committee and the National Archives in a bid to block the transfer of records, citing executive privilege.Trump's legal team has argued that the Select Committee's request was illegitimate and "unprecedented in their breadth and scope". Attorneys have also said that executive privilege should be applicable, as Trump was in office at the time of the riot.
Trump’s lawsuit pointed out that the FBI had found no evidence the event was part of an organised plot to overturn the 2020 election results or that Trump and his associates were involved in any such exercise. The ex-POTUS has repeatedly rejected the notion that the 6 January events were a riot or insurrection and has maintained that he won the 2020 presidential election, which he has consistently described as rigged.
Trump has also slammed the congressional probe, launched by a Democrat-majority House, as a "sideshow to distract America" from the "massive failures" of Joe Biden's administration.
On 11 November, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued an administrative injunction that temporarily blocked the House Select Committee from obtaining Trump's White House records from the National Archives.
On 6 January 2021, thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building in a bid to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's win in the November election. The storming was preceded by a Trump rally, which attracted a huge turnout. Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died as a result of the riot.
U.S. Capitol Police officers push back rioters who were trying to break into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.
© AP Photo / Jose Luis Magana
The former president, who has repeatedly claimed the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from him, was accused of “inciting an insurrection". Trump vehemently rejected the accusations, spearheaded by the Democrats, that he had instigated the riots. He was later impeached by the US House of Representatives on charges of incitement to insurrection, but was subsequently acquitted by the US Senate.