Washington: The criminal trial of Steve Bannon, a well-known former adviser to Donald Trump, may be postponed, a federal judge said on Tuesday in Washington. This is because there is disagreement over the extent of the defence that will be made to explain why Bannon refused to testify before lawmakers looking into the attack on the US Capitol last year.
After declining to give testimony or documents to the Democratic-led House of Representatives select committee last year, Bannon, 68, is now being charged with two misdemeanour charges of obstructing Congress.The jury pool consisted of 22 potential jurors, and the court was expected to choose 12 of them on Tuesday. The prosecution and defence were then expected to provide their opening arguments.
That procedure was put on hold while US District Judge Carl Nichols resolved a disagreement between the two sides on what evidence the defence might introduce in the case. The court dismissed Bannon’s attorneys’ request to postpone the start of the trial by a month, but he indicated that he would consider a shorter postponement, possibly a few days, and instructed the parties to discuss the matter over lunch.Bannon had previously been told by Nichols that he could not use the excuse that his records and testimony were shielded by the executive privilege, a legal theory that allows keep some presidential communications private, to avoid complying with the subpoena.
Bannon was previously prohibited by the judge from addressing the jury that he relied on legal counsel, who advised him that there were good legal grounds for not responding to the subpoena.
Nichols left it open last week for Bannon to make a defence claim that he thought the subpoena dates were negotiable and flexible. After rejecting the subpoena for almost ten months, Bannon changed his mind this month and declared that he wanted to give testimony at a public committee hearing.There has been no indication that there is any intention to have him do so, as the committee would probably prefer that he speak first in secret sessions so that he can cover a wide range of topics. Trump informed Bannon that he was renouncing any claim to executive privilege.
