Bannon is accused in federal court in Washington of defying a Jan. 6 subpoena from the committee that sought his records and testimony. He was indicted in November on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress, a month after the Justice Department was impeached by Congress. Each count carries a minimum of 30 days in jail and up to a year behind bars. The trial follows a flurry of activity in the case since July 9. A week ago, the former White House general informed the committee that he is now willing to testify. His lawyer, Robert Costello, said the change was made because Trump waived his claim of executive privilege from preventing the deposition. Bannon, 68, has been one of the most prominent of Trump’s allies to refuse to testify before the committee. He has argued that his testimony is protected by Trump’s claim of executive privilege. Trump has repeatedly claimed executive privilege — even as a former president — to try to block the testimony of witnesses and the release of White House documents. The Supreme Court ruled in January against Trump’s efforts to stop the National Archives from cooperating with the commission after a lower court judge noted, in part, “Presidents are not kings.” The committee also noted that Trump fired Bannon from the White House in 2017, so Bannon was private when advising the then-president in the run-up to the riots. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols rejected motions to delay the trial in separate hearings last week, including Thursday when Bannon’s lawyers raised concerns about a CNN report that has since aired about their client that they said was prejudicial. made during a hearing last week held by the parliamentary committee investigating the rebellion. “I know the current concerns about publicity and bias and whether we can seat a jury that will be fit and fair, but as I said before, I think the appropriate course is to go through the difficult process,” said Nichols. Thursday, referring to the questioning of individual jurors prior to their selection. The judge said he intended to get a jury that “will be appropriate, fair and impartial.” While the judge allowed the trial to proceed, Nichols left open the possibility that the letters about Trump waiving his privilege and Bannon’s offer to cooperate with the committee could be referred to in the trial, saying the information was “ at least potentially relevant’ to Bannon’s defense. . Roscoe Howard Jr., a former U.S. attorney in Washington, said Bannon’s best case scenario is if information about his cooperation offer reaches the grand jury. Even if it does, the claim that executive privilege prevented him from cooperating earlier will be a difficult argument because Bannon has refused to respond to the subpoena, Howard said. “You must appear to plead the claim of privilege. You can’t phone it in,” he said.
