Steve Bannon wants to turn his trial into a Biden White House search

It’s the next stage in Steve Bannon’s Passion.

A one-time political adviser to former President Donald Trump is facing criminal charges for refusing to help a congressional committee investigate the January 6 uprising. And he is trying to use the case against him as a crusade to potentially reveal whether the Biden administration The White House or politically appointed leaders at judicial were involved in the decision to track him down.

On Monday night, Bannon’s legal team and federal prosecutors filed a joint status report in his case, detailing the path forward.

In preparation for next year’s trial, Bannon’s attorneys plan to seek evidence from the White House and Justice Department, including “documents reflecting the decision to charge Mr. Bannon,” according to the filing. court.

The latest filings show federal prosecutors want to speed things up as much as possible to bring Bannon to trial as early as April. It’s only been six months since his November 12 indictment, which will make the case prosecuted lightning fast. Although the DOJ did not say so in the filing Monday night, the lawmakers who started the process made it clear that they wanted to present an example of Bannon to demonstrate that witnesses should be punished for despite congressional subpoenas.

The former Trump strategist was the most resistant witness the House selection committee investigated the attack on the US Capitol earlier this year, when thousands of Trump supporters tried to prevent Congress from officially certifying. . Joe Biden’s Victory inside 2020 presidential election. Bannon, now a right-wing media figure, drummed up the battle ahead of the event and has since called for a repudiation of the current US government’s legitimacy. When he refused to appear before the bipartisan committee and testify behind closed doors — or even deliver requested documents — he held in contempt of Congress and criminally charged.

Meanwhile, Biden’s attorneys say they’re looking to push the trial to October 2022 — perhaps not coincidentally just days before the midterm elections. That would fit closely with Bannon’s overarching goal of politicizing his case, or as he said last month, making it “misdemeanor from hell for Merrick Garland, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden. ”

Former prosecutors and law school professors who closely followed the case have made it clear that Bannon’s legal strategy appears to be blow up the whole system.

Bannon’s attorneys, M. Evan Corcoran and David I. Schoen, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Despite the rush of relatives to bring him to trial, government lawyers conceded that the case was unique. After all, it is related to a former president claims that he still has power exercise executive privilege and prevent former employees from helping the current government with investigations.

As the DOJ put it Monday night: “This case raises complex constitutional issues on first impression. Some of these issues concern industry relationships and U.S. government operations at its highest levels.”