Bannon Attempting to Turn His Prosecution into ‘Public Spectacle’

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Steve Bannon seemingly doesn’t want the investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection to move forward. The ex-advisor to former President Donal Trump is attempting to turn the Jan. 6 insurrection court case into a media spectacle, the Department of Justice said Sunday. 

The DOJ said that Bannon’s defense team has lodged loads of “frivolous” legal complaints against prosecutors in order to stoke public outrage over the investigation and ultimately thwart the House select committee. 

Prosecutors outlined in a 10-page filing how one of Bannon’s attorneys has been rebuffing efforts repeatedly and continuously to secure an agreement on evidence-sharing.

An evidence-sharing agreement is a normal, standard step in criminal trial processes. But Bannon’s legal team used a public court filing and a statement in the Washington Post to complain about the court case. 

The DOJ prosecution’s filing said that Bannon’s opposition to the protective order is misleading and that it makes “erroneous claims”. They said that some records must stay private while the case is pending due to the fact that they contain internal communications between government staffers, as well as notes about FBI interviews with witnesses who may be called to testify against Bannon at trial.

Publicly releasing the names in the documents would risk interfering with the judicial process, therefore amounting to witness tampering, and could work to silence the witnesses. 

Bannon has been charged with two contempt of Congress counts. He failed to testify and turn over requested documents when a subpoena was issued by the House select committee. Bannon says he is not guilty of this. 

In the newest filing, prosecutors have taken issue with Bannon speaking about the case in a public manner meant to invoke a “media spectacle.” The DOJ prosecutors said that Bannon’s purpose is to abuse criminal discovery and try the pending case in the media, not within the courtroom. 

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