WASHINGTON — Longtime Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon must face trial on criminal contempt charges over his refusal to cooperate with the congressional investigation into the U.S. Capitol riot, a judge ruled.
Bannon’s motion to dismiss the charges was denied at a hearing Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols in Washington. The judge said he’d rule later on disputes over what evidence will be allowed at the trial set to start July 18.
The ruling comes as the Jan. 6 committee is in the midst of landmark televised public hearings on the attack on the Capitol last year by a mob of former President Trump’s supporters.
Bannon was indicted in November on two counts of contempt of Congress for defying subpoenas from the House Jan. 6 select committee seeking his testimony and production of documents. The charges are misdemeanors that each carry a maximum sentence of one year in prison.
Bannon has argued that the grand jury that handed down the indictment was given bad instructions on the law and that the House select committee probing the Jan. 6. assault on the Capitol is biased.
Nichols rejected that argument, along with others, saying none of them was sufficient to prevent the case from going to trial.
Bannon claimed that presidential advisers who refused to comply with subpoenas on the grounds of executive privilege had historically been afforded protection from prosecution under U.S. Department of Justice opinions. But the judge said it wasn’t clear whether those applied to Bannon because he’d left the Trump administration when he was offering the advice.
Nichols also said there was ambiguity around whether Trump invoked executive privilege in Bannon’s situation, which would give him justification to ignore the subpoena.
At the end of the hearing, Bannon’s defense lawyers said they intended to seek a delay to the start of his trial.
