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Steve Bannon, the former Trump White House chief strategist, was on trial in July for two misdemeanor charges related to him not showing up to testify before the committee in charge of investigating the Jan 6th events at the U.S. Capitol.
The House Select Committee’s investigation of the events of Jan 6, 2020, has made no secret that they seek to cast blame on former President Trump for events that day.
The former president has repeatedly called out the committee on multiple issues, and has stated that he did not incite any protesters who broke the law on Jan 6.
Former President Trump has further stated the he wanted help from the National Guard in D.C. on that day, but that the Mayor of Washington D.C. denied his request.
Trump recently posted remarking on the fact that the mayor denied the National Guard on that day, but now wants the National Guard to help with the illegal immigrants flooding into D.C. at smaller numbers than the crowd at the Capitol on Jan 6.
Trump has repeatedly defined the House Committee’s attempts to throw blame on him a “witch hunt” and has also said he is cooperating when asked.
Just a few months away from the close of 2022, the investigation has been ongoing but has resulted in little of the kind of information they seek.
Bannon is one of the witnesses the committee has called to try and make their case against former President Trump.
He claimed executive privilege precluded him from appearing before the committee to talk about the Jan. 6, 2021, events.
At one point, Trump declared he was waiving executive privilege regarding Bannon, clearing the way for him to testify before the committee.
Due to the exemption, which the committee negated, Bannon was charged with contempt.
Bannon had refused to show up at a deposition last year, claiming he was barred because Trump had asserted executive privilege.
Bannon also refused to provide documents for the same reason.
Prosecutors argued that Bannon left the White House in 2017.
Defense attorney Evan Corcoran argued Bannon had made a mistake with the subpoena dates, which he called “placeholders.”
Corcoran also asserted that the chief government witness Kristin Amerling had donated to Democratic political candidates and had been a part of the same book club as prosecutor Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Gaston.
Amerling had stated that the committee wanted to know more about Bannon’s actions regarding contact with former President Trump and others and a statement he made on a podcast, in an effort to cast blame on the then president for the events on Jan 6 at the Capitol.
In July 2022, Bannon was found guilty by a jury of two counts of Contempt of Congress for ignoring his subpoena and not showing up, and not providing the documents.
In statements made outside the court building, Bannon thanked the judge and jurors for their service but blasted members of the House Select Committee for conducting what he called a “show trial.”
Bannon’s attorney, David Schoen, vowed to appeal.
Schoen stated at the time, “The overreaching by the government in this case has been extraordinary on every level. But shame on this office, on the United States Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice, for how far it went in this case.”
Bannon also vowed to appeal, saying the legal conflict was nowhere near complete.
Bannon is not the only person who declared exception to a subpoena.
Another aide in the Trump Administration, Peter Navarro, has pleaded not guilty as well to similar charges.
Navarro, is scheduled to go on trial in November on contempt charges.
Bannon argued for a new trial based on perceived flawed instructions to the jury and that he was blocked from having lawmakers, including members of the House select committee, testify at his trial, among other issues.
Now there is a ruling on Bannon’s motion for a new trial.
A federal judge on Friday denied a request by Steve Bannon for a new trial, more than a month after jurors convicted him of contempt of Congress after he ignored a subpoena from the House Jan. 6 committee.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols ruled on Bannon’s motion.
“Defendant’s arguments relating to the jury instructions, while certainly well preserved, do not demonstrate a serious miscarriage of justice,” Nichols wrote in denying Bannon’s motion.
In the same order, Nichols denied a renewed bid to dismiss Bannon’s conviction, Fox News reports.
“Defendant’s arguments are foreclosed by binding precedent from the Court of Appeals, which this Court cannot, of course, ignore,” wrote U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols. “Defendant’s arguments on this score do not warrant a new trial.”
“Defendant has not shown that the testimony from any member of the House of Representatives that he sought would be material,” Nichols wrote.
Bannon is expected to be sentenced Oct. 21 and reportedly faces a minimum of 30 days in jail, and a maximum of two years. .
Source: The Republic Brief