The simple case that prosecutors want to present was evident in an initial statement and in the interrogation of his first witness, a member of the select committee of the House, who kept his testimony at a very basic level.
Bannon’s team tried to muddy those waters with hints of partisanship, both in an opening statement and in fiery statements that Bannon uttered outside the courtroom after the proceedings were over.
In her initial statement, prosecutor Amanda Vaughn said Bannon was challenging a government order that citizens are required to follow, and told the jury he should find that “the defendant showed his contempt for the U.S. Congress, the U.S. government and that is to blame. ” Bannon, in failing to comply with the summons, “prevented the government from obtaining from him the important information it needed.”
Speaking for about 20 minutes, Vaughn explained why the committee investigating the January 6, 2021 uprising had a right to get information from Bannon, reviewing how congressional committees do the research that models the laws that Congress enacts and for what this committee was specifically interested in obtaining information. of Bannon.
“Because it was a summons, Congress was entitled to the information it requested. It was not optional. It was not a request. It was not an invitation. It was mandatory,” he said, stressing that the committee rejected it. the reasons Bannon used for not cooperating.
The case the prosecutors noted they will present is, in some ways, the product of several pre-trial sentences in their favor by U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols. He has kept out of court much of the evidence Bannon tried to present, including most of the arguments about the executive’s privilege. Instead, the Department of Justice only has to show that Bannon made a deliberate and intentional decision not to appear at the requested testimony or to present the required documents within the established time limits.
She framed the case as a “about the accused who put his nose to the orderly trial of our government.”
“This is not a case of error,” he told the jury. “The defendant was not wrong in date. He was not confused about where to go. He was not stuck in a damaged subway car. He simply refused to follow the rules.”
Bannon’s team plays politics
A long morning of steely legal arguments by Bannon’s team led to a relatively short initial 15-minute statement from his defense attorney Evan Corcoran, and a long public diatribe from Bannon later.
Corcoran’s opening statement was the first time the public and the court heard the full framing of Bannon’s team from his defense, after days of protests. He explained to the jurors that they would hear about some negotiations around Bannon’s summons, then hinted that partisanship was underway when the House select committee summoned his client.
“The evidence was very clear: no one, no one believed Steve Bannon would appear on October 14, 2021,” Corcoran argued.
He also asked the jury to ask, as they see evidence such as Bannon’s citation and contempt derivation, “Is this evidence affected by politics?”
After the proceedings, Bannon’s tone was hostile as he spoke from the sidewalk outside the courthouse. He criticized the chairman of the House select committee, Bennie Thompson, attacking the committee’s work and how the prosecutors ’case was presented.
“Today I challenge Bennie Thompson to have the courage to come to this court. If he is going to charge someone with a crime, he must be man enough to appear here,” Bannon said.
Bannon’s team tried to summon several members of the House to testify, but the judge did not allow it, eliminating a strategy his team hoped to use. Still, there’s a small chance the judge will review Bannon’s desire to call Thompson to testify, depending on how the staff testimony goes and the rest of the prosecutors ’case.
Direct testimony of committee staff
With the first Department of Justice witness in the stands to close the afternoon, the testimony so far has been as simple as prosecutors can do.
Did Bannon produce records before the October 7 citation deadline?
“He didn’t,” said Kristin Amerling, deputy director of staff for the committee.
Did Bannon appear to state how his summons was required on October 14?
“He didn’t,” Amerling said, again, to the witness box.
The testimony highlighted how simple the Department of Justice has tried to argue the jurors, even putting the work of Congress in the most basic terms.
Amerling also outlined the parameters of the House committee and how it works. He spoke that his research work must be done urgently, because “the threat to our democratic institutions continues.” And he described how the committee sought Bannon because of his contacts with Trump and others in his circles, including at the Willard Hotel before the Jan. 6 riot, all the details included in the committee’s public letter to Bannon. which accompanies the citation.
Amerling returns for more testimony Wednesday morning.
The verdict could come before Thursday’s hearing
Much of the drama of the Bannon trial has been about its timing.
Will this trial be short and direct (as prosecutors anticipate) or long and more complicated (as Bannon expects)? Would it be delayed a month or so, or could it even address deliberations before the select committee hearing at prime time Thursday night?
Bannon has made several unsuccessful attempts to postpone his trial this week, and his lawyer on Tuesday morning asked for a month’s delay after a heated legal argument over what evidence can be presented in the case.
Nor did Bannon’s team’s proposal to back the test just a few days have had any real traction. At one point, Nichols suggested they might have to wait until Wednesday to begin the trial in earnest, as the parties struggled to work out a plan to deal with certain evidence. But in the end, this debate cost the procedure only a few hours and the initial statements could begin in the mid-afternoon.
Only a handful of witnesses have been identified in both sides’ plans for the trial, meaning the proceedings are still ongoing to last just a few days. The question now is whether Bannon’s charges will be deliberated by the jury ahead of the committee’s hearing on Thursday, Jan. 6.