“It seems clear that Mr. Bannon is trying to turn this into some kind of political circus,” argued House General Counsel Doug Letter. “That’s not allowed.” The letter appeared in federal court in Washington on Monday as Bannon prepares to stand trial, beginning July 18, on a pair of criminal contempt of Congress charges stemming from his Jan. 6 contempt of a House committee. . As the high-profile trial neared, Bannon issued subpoenas last month to 16 lawmakers and staffers — including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and members of the Jan. 6 House committee — seeking their testimony and records. The subpoenas led to a separate case related to Bannon’s trial, with House lawyers arguing that the Constitution’s speech or debate clause shields lawmakers from questioning. In court documents, Bannon’s lawyers argued that House lawmakers waived that constitutional protection by filing an unusual amicus brief that supported the Justice Department’s prosecution and described Bannon’s arguments to avoid criminal charges as “deeply flawed.” On Monday, Letter again pointed to the Speech or Debate Clause’s protections, saying “Mr. Bannon’s argument is with the Constitution itself.” Steve Bannon with his lawyers. Win McNamee/Getty Images The hearing before Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee confirmed in 2019, came days after Bannon reversed course and agreed to testify before a House committee on Jan. 6. Explaining his about-face after months of obstruction, Bannon cited a letter from former President Donald Trump saying he would relinquish his claims of executive privilege. Bannon’s claims to executive privilege have been questioned, in part because he only served in the White House in 2017, years before Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 attack. In an overnight court filing, federal prosecutors also said Trump lawyer Justin Clark told the FBI in a June 29 interview that the former president “never invoked executive privilege for any specific information or material” related to Bannon , “and that counsel for the former President made it clear to defendant’s attorney that the letter provided no basis for total noncompliance.” Nichols asked Monday whether Bannon’s trial should be delayed in light of his last-minute offer to testify. Bannon’s lawyer, David Schoen, argued that continuing the trial on July 18 would be “contrary to the constitutionally guaranteed accommodation process.” But federal prosecutors and House lawyers said the 11th-hour offer should not bypass the trial, arguing that Bannon cannot reverse his clear defiance of the committee on Jan. 6 last year, that he has yet to produce the documents required in the subpoena and that the offer amounted to a mere “visual”. His recent offer to testify “has nothing to do with the criminal case,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Gaston said. The letter later told the hearing that the House “has no reason to believe that it is appropriate to postpone the trial.” Loading Something is loading.
