Steve Bannon’s request to delay contempt trial denied after he offered to testify before Jan. 6 panel
Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack.
“I see no reason for extending this case any further,” said U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, paving the way for the case to open next week.
The judge also severely restricted Bannon’s possible defenses.
Nichols ruled that Bannon cannot offer evidence that he relied on the advice of his counsel in refusing to cooperate with the committee’s subpoena, saying that such an assertion does not shield him from conduct that is deliberate and intentional.
The judge further dealt a blow to the former adviser when he ruled that Bannon could not offer alleged rule violations by the committee, as he has previously asserted. And he quashed Bannon’s efforts to subpoena House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, other House leaders and Jan. 6 committee members.
He said he would allow the government to offer some information about the Jan. 6 attack, but would strictly monitor the information.
Prosecutors: Willingness to testify isn’t ‘actual effort’ to comply
Prosecutors had cast Bannon’s new willingness to testify before the same House committee he had defied as a stunt to improve his chances at trial.
“His actions are little more than an attempt to change the optics of his contempt on the eve of trial, not an actual effort at compliance,” prosecutors said in court documents prior to Monday’s court hearing. “The Defendant’s timing suggest that the only thing that has really changed since he refused to comply with the subpoena…is that he is finally about to face the consequences of his decision to default.”
“misdemeanor from hell” for the Justice Department and congressional Democrats.
Each count carries a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of one year in jail, as well as a fine of $100 to $1,000.
On Jan. 6, Trump was out of public view as aides urged him to act. A breakdown of those 187 minutes.
Prosecutors on Monday argued during a pretrial hearing that Bannon’s decision to testify should have no bearing on the existing contempt case and asked that his request to delay the trial be denied.
the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, refused to comply with a subpoena issued last fall, claiming executive privilege from Trump. Both the committee and full House voted to hold him in contempt of Congress.
Trump’s claims of executive privilege have been rejected by federal courts so far. He lost a lawsuit to block the committee from access to his administration’s documents from the National Archives.
A U.S. district court and a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit each ruled that President Joe Biden’s waiver of executive privilege for materials sought by the investigation outweighed Trump’s claim.
The Supreme Court refused to hear Trump’s appeal, writing in an unsigned opinion Trump’s claims would have failed even if he were still president.
“Because the Court of Appeals concluded that President Trump’s claims would have failed even if he were the incumbent, his status as a former President necessarily made no difference to the court’s decision,” the court added.
Missed the Jan. 6 hearings?:What you need to know before they resume this week
Bannon laywer said Sunday he would testify
Overnight Sunday, however, the committee received a letter from Bannon’s lawyer stating he would testify, noting that Trump had released him from the privilege claim.
“Mr. Bannon was obligated to honor the President’s invocation (of executive privilege), unless and until, either your Committee reached a constitutionally required accommodation with President Trump as to the invocation of executive privilege or your Committee obtained a ruling from the Federal District Court that the invocation of executive privilege was improper or did not apply to the particular question or document sought,” attorney Robert Costello wrote.
The Jan. 6 committee has subpoenaed nearly 100 witnesses. What does that mean?
On Sunday, Rep. Jaime Raskin, D-Md., a member of the House investigating committee, said Bannon was likely motivated by recent damning testimony detailing the president’s conduct on Jan. 6, 2021, and in the days prior to the insurrection.
“If he wants to come in, I’m certain that the committee would be very interested in hearing from him,” Raskin told CBS News’ “Face the Nation”.