Judge rejects Steve Bannon's efforts to delay contempt of Congress trial

July 11 (UPI) -- A federal judge on Monday ruled against a series of efforts by Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, to delay his upcoming trial on contempt of Congress charges.

D.C. District Judge Carl Nichols rejected Bannon's arguments that his defense has been compromised by the publicity surrounding the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, CBS News and Insider reported.

"I see no reason for extending this case any longer," Nichols, a Trump appointee, said during the pretrial hearing in Washington, adding, "While I am certainly cognizant of Mr. Bannon's concerns regarding publicity, in my view the correct mechanism at this time for addressing that concern is through the [jury selection] process."

Bannon has refused to comply with a subpoena to testify before the Jan. 6 committee, which initially summoned him in September 2021, claiming his conversations with Trump about the Jan. 6 attack are covered by executive privilege.

He has pleaded not guilty to criminal contempt charges filed against him in November. His trial is set to begin on July 18, and Nichols' rulings on Monday cleared the way for the proceedings to begin as scheduled.

In Monday's hearing, the judge agreed with prosecutors on a series of issues raised by Bannon's defense team, scaling back what kind of defenses the former White House adviser will be allowed to make at trial.

Nichols agreed with the Justice Department's arguments that Bannon's effort to subpoena records and testimony from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and members of the Jan. 6 committee should be thrown out.

He also ruled against Bannon's attempts to claim executive privilege at trial and rejected his claims of prosecutorial misconduct.

In an about-face over the weekend, Bannon disclosed he would reverse his previous stonewalling of the committee and be willing to testify, claiming that Trump had agreed to waive his claims of executive privilege.

But in a subsequent filing, prosecutors said Bannon's "11th hour" reversal is immaterial to the upcoming trial and is "little more than an attempt to change the optics of his contempt on the eve of trial, not an actual effort at compliance."

The DOJ also revealed Trump lawyer Justin Clark told the FBI in an interview that the former president "never invoked executive privilege over any particular information or material" as claimed by Bannon.