Washington: Donald Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon is likely to face criminal prosecution in a case related to the Capitol attack after he failed to appear before the House select committee on its subpoena.
The House select committee, which is investigating the Capitol Hill attack on 6 January, has unanimously voted the contempt of Congress citation against Bannon and send its recommendation to the Democratic-controlled House for its approval to go to court against Bannon.
Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the select committee was quoted by the agency as saying that Bannon's testimony could not be missed in the inquiry in order to get a full accounting of the violence of January 6th and its causes.
Banon cannot dodge the inquiry without punishment as the consequences for standing the way of the select committee while it works to get to the facts, he added.
Members on the select committee took the aggressive step against Bannon to sound a warning to Trump White House officials and others connected to the Capitol attack that defying subpoenas would carry grave consequences, according to a source on the panel.
The select committee had issued a bevvy of subpoenas to some of Trump's closest advisers – White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, his deputy Dan Scavino, defence department aide Kash Patel, and Bannon – under the threat of criminal prosecution.