Steve Bannon is on trial on two criminal charges for failing to comply with a House investigation on January 6, 2021, 10 months after receiving subpoenas from the select committee. The polarizing longtime Trump ally has always been at the top of the Jan. 6 witness list for House investigators. But Justice Department prosecutors say the lawsuit is intended to punish Bannon for not complying with subpoenas, rather than compel him to share information. Here are key things to know about the case as arguments begin: Why the case matters: The case is an important test of what power Congress has when a witness evades a House subpoena. Bannon’s is the first of two similar House select committee subpoena cases to go to trial. a contempt case against former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro is still in its early stages. Bannon’s trial is also of particular importance to the House panel as it continues negotiations to bring additional witnesses and as it prepares for a lengthy hearing Thursday night aimed at focusing what panel members called the “dereliction of duty ” by former President Donald Trump in January. 6. How the trial could play out: Prosecutors are vowing that their case against Bannon will be presented briefly, in just a few days, with only two or three prosecution witnesses. This list includes House committee investigators. It is unknown how extensive Bannon’s defense will be or whether he will want to take a stand to defend his own position. He will not be able to compel members of the House to testify, the judge said. At the start of the case, Bannon vowed to make the process “a trial from hell for (Attorney General) Merrick Garland, (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi and (President) Joe Biden.” But at a recent court hearing, his defense attorney David Schoen complained: “What’s the point of going to trial here if there’s no defense?” Bannon’s efforts to stop trial: Bannon — who received an 11th-hour pardon from Trump in 2021 as he faced charges of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering in Manhattan federal court over a border wall fundraising plan — the court has made a number of attempts in recent days to stop the trial, to shape more of a defense or to prepare for possible appeals. So far, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols has overwhelmingly sided with the Justice Department on what evidence the grand jury can hear, ruling out Bannon’s ability to try to defer to his lawyer’s advice or to used internal DOJ policies on presidential advisers he hoped could protect him. In recent weeks, Trump has indicated that he wants to waive any executive privilege that might apply to Bannon, and Bannon has suggested that he might be interested in talking to the House committee — a set of events that Bannon’s team now wants to try to show the jury . But his ability to make executive privilege arguments will be, at best, severely limited. Bannon was not a government official during the period the committee is investigating. The charges: A federal grand jury indicted the right-winger in November on two counts of criminal contempt — one for failing to testify subpoenaed by a House committee in the fall and the other for failing to produce documents. A key issue in the trial will be whether the jury agrees with prosecutors and the House that Bannon’s October subpoena deadlines were final and that he deliberately ignored them. Both charges he faces are misdemeanors. But if convicted, each faces a mandatory minimum of 30 days in jail. Continue reading about the case here.
