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Prosecutors said Steve Bannon’s opposition to the January 6 house panel was a “choice.”
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Banon lawyers claimed that “no one believed” that Trump’s allies would testify in October 2021.
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Before starting the discussion, Banon lawyers tried to postpone the criminal trial again.
Steve Bannon’s trial begins, and on Tuesday federal prosecutors emphasized their views Pure simplicity of the case: The longtime Trump ally has received a deadline to respond to the subpoena from the House of Representatives investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
And Banon Rejected follow.
“This case is about the defendant sniffing at the orderly process of our government,” said Amanda Bourne, assistant US prosecutor, in the opening discussion with the jury.
“It’s very easy,” she added.
In a discussion of about 20 minutes, Bourne told Banon how the House of Representatives tried to ask Banon about his knowledge of the events leading up to the riots at the Houses of Parliament, for questions and filing. I gave a deadline to sit in October last year. Banon then deliberately snubbed the house panel, she said, despite warnings that his rebellion could lead to the very criminal accusations he is currently facing.
“It wasn’t an option. It wasn’t a request, it wasn’t an invitation. It was mandatory,” Bourne said. “The defendant decided he was out of the law … and that’s why we’re here today.”
“He wasn’t stuck in a broken subway car. He just refused to obey the rules,” she added.
Bourne’s opening argument seemed to overturn Banon’s expected defenses: he considered the House Commission deadline to be negotiable and not fixed.
In his own opening discussion, Banon’s defense counsel Evan Corcoran emphasized his time as an adviser to the former president of the Trump ally in a clear reference to Breitbart News, calling it a “media company.” Pointed out his past involvement.
“The evidence will be very clear. No one believed that Steve Bannon would appear on October 14, 2021,” Corcoran said.
The grand jury charged Banon with insulting parliament in November, a few weeks after that deadline. Each can be imprisoned for up to one year and fined up to $ 100,000. In the opening discussion, Mr. Corcoran said the prosecution was equivalent to a politically motivated attack.
“”Politics is the lifeline of the US House of Representatives, and “politics invades all the decisions they make,” Corcoran said.
Following the discussion at the beginning of Tuesday, Prosecutor called Christine Amarling, Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel of the House January 6 Committee, emphasized the “urgency” of the parliamentary panel’s investigation. If Republicans regain a majority in the House of Representatives in the next midterm election, they are expected to dissolve the January committee.
“The Special Committee is considering a violent attack on the US Capitol, law enforcement officers, and our democratic institutions, and we have limited time,” she said. ..
Initial discussions and Amarling’s testimony were revealed after the bumpy start of the trial, as Banon’s lawyers, federal prosecutors, and judges argued over what evidence could be presented to the jury. After many unsuccessful attempts to postpone the trial, Corcoran said it would take a month for the defense team to adjust its strategy in light of what he called an “earthquake shift” in this case. Asked for a delay again.
“There are a lot of moving parts,” said Corcoran. “We are just not preparing for the defense we have.”
Judge Karl Nichols of the US District Court rejected the request. However, the judge, Trump’s appointed person, confirmed in 2019, needs to edit or black out how much the defense counsel and prosecutor will edit Banon’s response to the House Commission on January 6th. While arguing over what was there, I temporarily entertained the delay of the day. Jury trial.
Prior to the trial, Nichols Handed down a series of judgments It limited Banon’s defenses, for example, preventing him from claiming that executive privilege allowed him to rebel against the House January 6th Commission. However, Nichols said he could raise a defense that Banon believed that the deadline for responding to the January 6 House Commission subpoena was negotiable and not fixed.
“I don’t think it was clearer,” Nichols said.
Read the original article Business insider