Steve Bannon contempt trial: Feds argue he 'decided he was above the law'

July 19 (UPI) -- Federal prosecutors told jurors Tuesday that Steve Bannon "decided he was above the law" when he refused to comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol.

Former President Donald Trump's former chief strategist's criminal trial for contempt of Congress got underway in earnest Tuesday with opening statements.

"It wasn't option, it wasn't a request and it wasn't an invitation. It was mandatory," Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Rose Vaughn said. "He didn't get stuck on a broken-down Metro car. He just decided not to follow the rules."

Bannon was indicted on two counts of contempt for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House select committee, which sought testimony and documents about a meeting held on the night of Jan. 5, 2021.

Bannon's attorney, Evan Corcoran, argued that "politics" was behind the committee's decision to subpoena Bannon and that he is "innocent of the charges."

"No one ignored the subpoena," Corcoran said. "Quite the contrary, there was direct engagement. The evidence will be crystal clear. No one expected that Steve Bannon would appear ... . There will be no evidence that anyone ordered Steve Bannon to do anything."

Corcoran argued there was no set time for Bannon to appear for a deposition and provide documents, and that any dates were open to negotiation.

But the government's first witness, deputy staff director and chief counsel to the Jan. 6 committee, Kristin Amerling, disagreed. She said the committee established specific deadlines for Bannon to produce documents Oct. 7 and appear for a deposition Oct. 14 which she told the prosecutor "he did not."

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols also denied a request Tuesday by Bannon's lawyers to delay the trial over an evidentiary dispute. The defense wanted to exclude letters between the House committee and Bannon's lawyers relating to the subpoena, but Nichols ruled he would allow the correspondence, which also reference executive privilege.

Jury selection was finalized earlier in the day when Nichols seated 12 jurors and two alternates, USA Today reported. Opening arguments began immediately afterward.

Although Bannon, 68, was officially a White House adviser for seven months early in Trump's term, the panel believes he still had communications with Trump until the end of his presidency in January 2021.

Bannon and his lawyers have argued that Trump invoked executive privilege to shield their conversations from the House panel's inquiries, but Nichols said it is not clear that Trump invoked the privilege or whether he has the ability to do so as a former president.

Earlier this month, Bannon ultimately agreed to testify before the committee after Trump waived his claim of executive privilege, though any such testimony has not yet been announced.

Nichols previously said he was "hopeful" the court can find a jury that's not been closely following the Jan. 6 committee's high-profile public hearings and doesn't know much about Bannon, a high-profile figure in conservative media, to fairly hear the case.

Bannon called the Jan. 6 committee hearings a "show trial" in comments to reporters outside the courthouse Monday.

When asked whether he believed his jury could be fair, Bannon replied: "Yes, I do."

Multiple potential jurors were disqualified during the selection process Monday, including one man who said that he had already formed an opinion that "Bannon is guilty."

"I'm not a fan of Steve Bannon," said a potential juror, who was disqualified and had previously worked as a congressional intern.

Another man was disqualified from the jury pool Monday when he said during questioning that a he thought a statement from Bannon on his podcast last week was a "purely preposterous statement."

"Pray for our enemies because we're going medieval on these people. We're going to savage our enemies," Bannon had said in his "War Room" podcast.

Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Daniel Scavino, who similarly defied subpoenas from the committee, also initially faced contempt of Congress charges.

Bannon surrendered to federal agents in Washington in November and pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted, Bannon would face at least one year in jail and a fine of $100,000.

Testimony in the trial will resume Wednesday.