Lawyer for Steve Bannon to call no witnesses in contempt trial

• Attorneys for Steve Bannon say they will not call any witnesses in his contempt trial.
• Federal prosecutors rested their case against Bannon on Wednesday after only two witnesses testified.
• The judge has said he will reserve judgement on a defence request to acquit Bannon.

Attorneys for former White House strategist Steve Bannon said Thursday that they will not call any witnesses in his contempt trial, implying that the case could be submitted to a jury later that day.

Attorney David Schoen informed U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols that the defence planned to rest its case and that Bannon would not testify.

Earlier, Nichols said he would reserve judgement on a defence request to acquit Bannon before the case went to a jury, arguing that prosecutors provided insufficient evidence that Bannon defied a House committee’s subpoena in its investigation of the Capitol attack.

“There has been no evidence presented that the defendant is guilty,” Evan Corcoran, an attorney, argued. Among the defence arguments was that the subpoena was invalid because a government witness did not recall being present when committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., signed it.

Prosecutors rejected the defence argument, stating that the signed document, as well as other correspondence demonstrating Bannon’s failure to comply with the committee’s demands, had been submitted.

Federal prosecutors rested their case against Bannon on Wednesday after only two witnesses testified, including the chief counsel of the House committee investigating the Capitol attack, who told the jury that the former Trump aide repeatedly ignored the panel’s request for documents and testimony despite the threat of criminal prosecution.

Kristin Amerling, the committee’s deputy staff director, said Bannon was repeatedly warned that he would face contempt charges if he did not produce the required information and appear for a deposition, but he failed to meet every deadline outlined in a September 23, 2021, subpoena.

Amerling stated that in correspondence with Bannon attorney Robert Costello, the lawyer never requested an extension of the deadlines or suggested that his client lacked information relevant to the committee’s investigation. Instead, Costello contended that Bannon was exempt from compliance because former President Donald Trump intended to invoke executive privilege.

“The select committee’s position was this was not a valid rationale for refusing to comply,” Amerling went on to say that the committee had never received a formal or informal notice that Trump had invoked executive privilege in relation to Bannon.

Costello was informed by committee counsel that the panel was “obligated to view (Bannon’s) failure to comply as willful noncompliance with the criminal contempt statute.”

The Justice Department revealed earlier this month in court documents that Trump’s attorney never stated that the former president intended to invoke executive privilege, which would shield Bannon from the committee.

In January, the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s attempt to shield documents from the committee, citing executive privilege.

On Oct. 19, the witness was notified that the committee had voted to hold Bannon in contempt, prompting a subsequent referral to the Justice Department for prosecution following a full House vote two days later.

When asked if Bannon had made any further contact after the notification, Amerling replied, “I didn’t hear anything from him.”

The government’s case is heavily reliant on Amerling’s testimony, while Bannon’s attorneys have attempted to portray the prosecution as politically motivated.

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