Steve Bannon will not testify in criminal contempt trial, attorney says
CBSDec 23, 2022
The Facts
A jury took less than three hours of deliberation Fri. to convict Steve Bannon, former chief strategist to ex-Pres. Donald Trump, on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riots at the Capitol.
Bannon recently agreed to cooperate with the committee after previously claiming executive privilege, but he was too late to stop the trial. He faces between 30 days to a year in prison, and up to $1K in fines, on each misdemeanor count when he's sentenced on Oct. 31
The Spin
Democratic narrative
Bannon is a political lackey for Trump who obviously is trying to play the Jan. 6 committee. He hasn't done anything to cooperate after saying he would honor the subpoena. Bannon is still grossly in contempt, and any punishment he receives now is warranted.
Republican narrative
Bannon was never obliged to cooperate with the Jan. 6 committee, which is unlawful and unconstitutional. And now his due process rights were violated by this so-called "contempt" case because his defense wasn't allowed to challenge the legitimacy of the committee. The Democrats' partisan witch hunt knows no bounds.
