Prosecutors said they have handed over nearly 1,100 pages of documents in relation to the contempt charges against Steve Bannon while accusing the defense of "frivolous" attempts to delay proceedings.
The Department of Justice said it has submitted 65 documents containing approximately 1,092 pages of information after they were requested by the defense following a status hearing for Bannon's case on November 18.
The filings were submitted under a "discovery" request, in which prosecutors must provide materials and evidence that they intend to use at an upcoming trial to the defense.
According to court filings submitted on Sunday, the documents which were submitted were information relating to grand jury material, law enforcement reports of witness interviews, internal communications between Select Committee staff, correspondence between the defendant and others, law enforcement database information relating to the defendant, and public source news reporting that the Government gathered in its investigation.
Bannon has been indicted on two counts of contempt of Congress for defying subpoenas and refusing to answer questions from the House committee investigating the January 6 attack at the Capitol.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
Prosecutors also accused Bannon's defense team of attempting to delay proceedings by launching "frivolous" legal complaints in an attempt to "try this case in the media" rather than in court.
"The misleading and frivolous nature of the defendant's claims of prejudice demonstrate that they are just a cover for the real reason the defendant opposes a protective order in this case and which he and his counsel have expressed in their extrajudicial statements—that the defendant wishes to have trial through the press," wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Vaughn wrote.
The prosecution argued that Bannon's public court filing and statement to The Washington Post in which he called for all the documents to be made available to the public so they can "make their own independent judgment as to whether the U.S. Department of Justice is committed to a just result based upon all the facts" is one such trivial attempt to delay proceedings.
"Contrary to what the defendant told The Washington Post, allowing unfettered public access to discovery materials, regardless of their use or relevance to public judicial proceedings, is not the 'normal process.' It is the opposite of normal," Vaughn said.
The House Select Committee previously accused Bannon of "hiding" behind Donald Trump's "insufficient, blanket, and vague statements" regarding executive privilege for not complying with his subpoena.
Bannon was charged soon after District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan threw out Trump's attempt to use executive privilege to keep documents about him and his allies from the run-up to January 6 hidden.
Following a court appearance on November 15, Bannon warned that the charges against him will be the "misdemeanor from hell" for Attorney General Merrick Garland, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Joe Biden.
"We're going on the offense," Bannon said. "They took on the wrong guy this time; they took on the wrong guys."
Bannon's team has been contacted for further comment.
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About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
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