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Tag: contempt of congress
Jury Selection Advances In Bannon's Contempt Trial

Jury Selection Advances In Bannon's Contempt Trial

Jury selection in the criminal contempt trial of Steve Bannon, a one-time adviser and strategist to former President Trump, which began Monday, is set to extend into a second day as attorneys round up the tedious process of selecting non-biased jurors.

Bannon was charged with two counts of contempt of Congress for his ten-month-long defiance of a subpoena issued by the bipartisan House panel probing the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol for his records and testimony.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols oversaw the selection of 22 tentative jurors — 12 men and 10 women — from an initial pool of 60 D.C.residents. The trial, which is expected to breeze through the court, will resume Tuesday morning, and lawyers for Bannon and the Justice Department will downsize the list to 14 jurors, two of which are alternates.

The often-laborious process of potential juror questioning unveiled stark assessments of the polarizing, Trump-allied defendant who vowed to make the criminal case a “misdemeanor from hell.”

Evan Corcoran, Bannon’s lawyer, pressed the juror candidates on their knowledge of his client, particularly whether they’ve written or said anything about Bannon and if they had opinions of the House Select Committee and its work. Many of the potential jurors admitted they’d heard little about the case, and some said they’d “taken in at least some of the select committee’s public hearings,” per CNN.

A juror candidate told Nichols that he’d find it “a challenge” to remain impartial. "I have formed an opinion about the case," the man said, looking towards Bannon. "The opinion is that Bannon is guilty." The acknowledgment saw the candidate promptly disqualified.

Another candidate was dismissed after deriding Bannon's pre-trial promise to “go full medieval” at the trial. “I felt that was a purely preposterous statement,” the male candidate said. “Pray for our enemies, because we’re going medieval on these people. We’re going to savage our enemies,” Bannon had declared on his “War Room” podcast Last Tuesday.

Although Bannon’s legal team had argued for a delay in the case at the pre-trial, citing the high coverage of the January 6 hearings, most of the would-be jurors said they hadn’t formed an opinion or knew little about the case.

Bannon attended the voir dire session mainly wearing black, but he never said a word in court, according to the Washington Post. It is also unclear whether the indefatigable Trump ally will testify in his own defense. Bannon lashed out at the select committees outside the courthouse, calling its hearings “a show trial.”

The committee presented evidence last week that Bannon and Trump spoke at least twice on January 5, 2021, the day before the Capitol assault. The committee also played a clip of Bannon saying on January 5 that "all hell is going to break loose tomorrow," remarks that the committee said he made after his first call with Trump.

Opening arguments in the trial are scheduled to begin Tuesday — soon after the number of jurors selected on Monday is whittled down to 14.

Bannon’s trial will go far in ascertaining Congress’ leverage when witnesses flout its subpoenas, as several Trump allies, including the former president himself, have done.

The select committee will hold its next prime-time hearing on Thursday night, and it is expected to hone in on Trump’s dereliction of duty on January 6.

Bannon Threatens Biden Over Capitol Riot Panel Contempt Charges

Bannon Threatens Biden Over Capitol Riot Panel Contempt Charges

By Jan Wolfe and Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former President Donald Trump's longtime adviser Steve Bannon on Monday sought to portray the criminal charges over his defiance of a congressional inquiry into the deadly January 6 Capitol riot as politically motivated, lashing out at President Joe Biden and others.

Bannon, indicted by a federal grand jury on Friday on two counts of contempt of Congress, made his first court appearance, with Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather releasing him on his personal recognizance after a brief hearing. Hours earlier, Bannon turned himself in at an FBI field office in Washington, flanked by black-clad bodyguards.

The conditions set by Meriweather for Bannon's release did not include an order not to talk about the case publicly. Moments after the hearing Bannon addressed a throng of journalists outside the federal courthouse.

"I'm never going to back down. They took on the wrong guy this time," said Bannon, Trump's one-time chief strategist and one of more than 30 people close to the Republican former president called to testify to the Democratic-led House of Representatives select committee probing the January. 6 attack.

Bannon took aim at Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"I'm telling you right now, this is going to be the misdemeanor from hell for Merrick Garland, Nancy Pelosi, and Joe Biden," Bannon said.

"We're going to go on the offense. We're tired of playing defense," Bannon said, who claimed without offering evidence that Biden ordered Garland to bring the charges.

Bannon was indicted on one contempt count for refusing to appear for a deposition before the committee and a second count for refusing to produce documents. The House voted on October 21 to hold Bannon in contempt, leaving it up to the Justice Department, headed by Garland, to decide on bringing charges.

Before surrendering to the FBI, Bannon told reporters, "We're taking down the Biden regime," though he did not specify what he meant by "taking down." A demonstrator standing behind him held a sign that read "Coup Plotter."

A mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6 in a failed attempt to prevent formal congressional certification of his election loss to Biden. The committee is scrutinizing Trump's actions relating to those events. Bannon is the first to face criminal charges arising from the panel's inquiry.

Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail along with a fine of up to $100,000, according to the Justice Department. The department on Friday had said Bannon faced a fine of up to $1,000.

Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail along with a monetary fine.

Meriweather imposed several conditions on Bannon including surrendering his U.S. passport. Bannon did not enter a plea, with an arraignment scheduled for Thursday.

Executive Privilege Claims

Trump has sought to stonewall the House committee and directed his associates not to cooperate. In defying his subpoena, Bannon cited Trump's insistence -- already rejected by one judge -- that the former president has a right to keep the requested material confidential under a legal doctrine called executive privilege.

Bannon, a prominent figure in right-wing media circles, was an architect of Trump's 2016 presidential victory and served as White House chief strategist in 2017. The former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker and Navy veteran has promoted right-wing causes and candidates in the United States and abroad.

Bannon separately was charged last year with defrauding donors to a private fund-raising effort to boost Trump's pledge to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border. Trump pardoned Bannon before the case could go to trial.

The House committee has said Bannon made public statements suggesting he knew in advance about "extreme events" that would occur on January 6. Bannon said on a January 5 podcast that "all hell is going to break loose tomorrow."

Shortly before the riot, Trump gave a speech to supporters near the White House repeating his false claims that the election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud and urging them to go to the Capitol and "fight like hell" to "stop the steal."

House investigators hope the Bannon charges will motivate other witnesses including former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who on Friday refused to appear for a deposition, to testify.

Bannon's attorney David Schoen after Monday's hearing emphasized that his client's actions toward his subpoena were guided by Trump's invocation of executive privilege.

"You can't put the genie back in the bottle," Schoen said. "Mr. Bannon acted as his lawyers counseled him to do by not appearing and by not turning over documents in this case."

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Jan Wolfe; Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Will Dunham and Scott Malone)


Video: Surrendering To FBI, Bannon Says He's 'Taking Down Biden Regime'

Video: Surrendering To FBI, Bannon Says He's 'Taking Down Biden Regime'

Reprinted with permission from AlterNet

On Friday, November 12, the news broke that former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon had been indicted on two counts of contempt of Congress for openly defying a subpoena from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's select committee on the January 6 insurrection. And on Monday, November 15, the Trump ally surrendered to law enforcement.

CNN aired video of Bannon surrendering and arriving at an FBI field office. The video shows Bannon talking to reporters, and a sign carried by a Bannon detractor read "Coup Planner." He is scheduled for a court appearance on Monday afternoon.

Bannon was among the Trump allies who, in late 2020 and early 2021, tried to help the former president overturn the results of the 2020 election. The far-right MAGA Republican's critics have been warning that he will use his indictment to paint himself as a martyr and a victim of the "deep state."

Congress May Vote Criminal Contempt Against Meadows Next

Congress May Vote Criminal Contempt Against Meadows Next

Donald Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows refused to testify Friday morning as part of the probe into the violent and deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, raising the possibility that he'll become the second Trump ally to be held in contempt of Congress for his refusal to be interviewed in the probe.

Meadows' lawyer said in a statement Friday morning that Meadows is in a "sharp legal dispute" with the House's January 6 select committee over whether Meadows' communications with Trump are privileged, and said that Meadows would not testify until those "disputes are appropriately resolved by courts."

"It would be irresponsible for Mr. Meadows to prematurely resolve that dispute by voluntarily waiving privileges that are at the heart of those legal issues," the lawyer said in the statement sent to reporters.

The January 6 committee subpoenaed Meadows, who served as chief of staff in the final months of the Trump administration, in September. House investigators requested for him to sit for a deposition on October 15, a deadline that passed weeks ago.

The committee is now stepping up its threats as Meadows continues to refuse cooperation.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), chair of the select committee probing the insurrection, said in a letter to Meadows' lawyer on Thursday that there is "no valid legal basis for Mr. Meadows's continued resistance to the Select Committee's subpoena," adding that the committee will view Meadows' "failure to appear at the deposition, and to produce responsive documents or a privilege log indicating the specific basis for withholding any documents you believe are protected by privilege, as willful non-compliance."

The letter continued:

Such willful noncompliance with the subpoena would force the Select Committee to consider invoking the contempt of Congress procedures in 2 U.S.C. §§ 192, 194—which could result in a referral from the House of Representatives to the Department of Justice for criminal charges—as well as the possibility of having a civil action to enforce the subpoena brought against Mr. Meadows in his personal capacity.

Meadows would be the second former Trump administration official to be held in contempt of Congress if the committee follows through with its threat.

In October, 229 House lawmakers — including nine Republicans — voted to hold former Trump campaign adviser Steve Bannon in criminal contempt of Congress. The Department of Justice is currently weighing whether to charge Bannon, a delay that has frustrated some Democrats on the committee, including Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who told CNN earlier in November, "Any perception that the rule of law does not apply is a harmful one."

The committee's tussle with Meadows is the latest obstacle in its attempt to investigate the roots of the Jan. 6 riots and how similar attacks can be prevented in the future.

It also faces a challenge from Trump, who is looking to block the National Archives from releasing documents sought by the committee.

After a district court judge ruled on Tuesday that the documents must be turned over to the committee, a higher court, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, blocked the release of the documents until the case can be heard, following a request by Trump's lawyers. A hearing is currently set for November 30.

The delays by Trump and his allies appear to be an attempt to thwart the investigation for as long as possible. If Republicans reclaim control of the House after the 2022 midterm elections, they could then shut down the probe before its work can be completed.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.