(JustPatriots.com)- Tuesday marked the start of Steve Bannon’s contempt of Congress trial. Both parties presented their respective opening statements over whether or not the former Trump White House adviser should appear in federal court in response to subpoenas from the Democrat-led Jan. 6 committee.
News reports show Bannon’s defense attorneys questioned why he was being held in contempt of court for allegedly disobeying subpoenas while in talks with the House committee that issued them.
The main points of contention were whether the subpoenas had been finalized and the dates of the subpoenas. They were connected to the committee’s investigation into the Capitol incident on January 6, 2021, and Bannon’s alleged potential participation.
Evan Corcoran, the defense counsel, stated that no one disregarded the subpoena, and in fact, there was direct interaction with the committee.
According to Corcoran, the committee was motivated by “politics” to get Bannon to testify.
Reports show the prosecution mostly outlined the chronology of events. It said Bannon failed to cooperate with the subpoenas and persisted in trying to claim executive privilege after being informed that such a claim was invalid.
Assistant US Attorney Amanda Vaughn told the jury that the case was about the defendant snubbing the orderly process of the system.
They called Kristin Amerling, the committee’s deputy staff director, the trial’s first witness. Amerling explained why the committee is interested in Bannon, claiming that his comment that “all hell was going to break loose” before the riot suggested he had some advance knowledge of the events of January 6.
To be clear, the quote “All hell is going to break loose” came from an episode of Bannon’s War Room. Bannon described what would happen if some of the Congressmen refused to certify the electors. He said all hell would break loose between the legislators. Steve Bannon has stated he was not at the Capitol on January 6th and denied participation in or planning of the riot.
According to prosecutors, the trial should be over by the weekend.
According to Bannon, the Justice Department and the White House will face the “misdemeanor from hell” in this case. He also promised to punish Democrats who pushed for his prosecution.
Last month, former President Donald Trump declared he would waive executive privilege so Bannon could appear before the committee.
