Steve Bannon's trial begins

Judge Carl Nichols said it was possible that there could be a "modest" delay in the trial, as the parties continue to hash out a disagreement about certain evidence.

“I’m not foreclosing the possibility of delaying the trial by a day just to make sure we get our ducks in a row," Nichols said Tuesday.

The judge called a recess until 1 p.m. ET, with the instruction that the parties figure out certain things about what they intend to present to the jury.

Proceedings in Steve Bannon's case have started after a short break.

The judge gaveled in at 10:35 a.m. ET.

At around 10:17 a.m. ET, the proceedings went on a recess and Judge Carl Nichols said that when he returns, he will hand down his ruling on the admissibility of the Jan. 6 House committee letters to Steve Bannon.

Before the arguments wrapped up, Steve Bannon's team made another Hail Mary attempt at delaying the trial.

Bannon's attorney, Evan Corcoran, argued that because of "seismic shift" of the parties' understanding of what evidence is allowed in the trial, the trial should be postponed for one month.

The second day of Steve Bannon’s trial is now underway in Washington. He is facing two criminal charges for his failure to comply with the House's Jan. 6, 2021, investigation 10 months after receiving subpoenas from the select committee.

Before conducting the final phase of jury selection, in which the pool of potential jurors will be whittled down from 22 to 12 plus two alternates, Judge Carl Nichols is hearing arguments on an evidentiary dispute still pending.

Specifically, the judge is considering whether October 2021 letters from House Jan. 6 Committee Chair Bennie Thompson to Steve Bannon’s team about the subpoena are admissible. Bannon’s lawyers now want the letters excluded from the trial.

Signaling some sympathy with Bannon’s arguments, Nichols is raising concerns about admitting the letters in full, because they include discussions of executive privilege, a topic Nichols has already ruled is largely irrelevant for trial. He has asked prosecutors what he should to prevent the jury from being confused by them.

The government is arguing that the letters are relevant to a key issue that will be before the jury to decide: whether Bannon had reason to believe that the deadlines on the subpoena were flexible because negotiations around his cooperation were still ongoing.

The parties now are debating proposals to either enter redacted versions of the letters, to include only the parts of the communications that to speak to that question, or to enter a stipulation agreed to by the two sides about the letters.

Steve Bannon is headed to trial on two criminal charges for his failure to comply with the House's Jan. 6, 2021, investigation 10 months after receiving subpoenas from the select committee.

Proceedings began Monday with jury selection at the federal courthouse in Washington, DC. Twenty-two potential jurors have been found, and the 12 that make up the jury and two alternates will be selected Tuesday morning. Opening statements will begin soon after.

Remember: The case is a major test of what leverage Congress has when a witness evades a House subpoena. Bannon's is the first of two similar House select committee subpoena cases to head to trial; a contempt case against former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro is still in its early stages.

Prosecutors pledge that their case against Bannon will be presented succinctly, over just a few days, with only two or three prosecution witnesses. That list includes House committee investigators.

It's unknown how extensive Bannon's defense will be, or if he will want to take the stand in his own defense. He will not be able to force House members to testify, the judge has said.

Early in the case, Bannon vowed to make the proceedings the "misdemeanor from hell for (Attorney General) Merrick Garland, (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi and (President) Joe Biden." But at a recent court hearing, his defense attorney David Schoen complained, "What's the point of going to trial here if there is no defense?"

Bannon — who accepted an 11th-hour pardon from Trump in 2021 as he was facing conspiracy wire fraud and money laundering charges in Manhattan's federal court related to a border wall fundraising scheme — has made a series of attempts in court in recent days to stop the trial, to fashion more of a defense, or to prepare for possible appeals.

So far, US District Judge Carl J. Nichols has overwhelmingly sided with the Justice Department on what evidence the jury can hear, cutting off Bannon's ability to try to defer to advice his attorney gave him or to use internal DOJ policies on presidential advisers that he hoped might protect him.

Bannon's ability to bring up arguments about executive privilege will be, at best, severely limited. Bannon was not a government official during the period the committee is probing.

Read more here.

During the first portion of Monday's jury selection process, potential jurors were not been pressed about their general feelings about Steve Bannon or former President Trump.

They were, however, being asked about their news consumption of the House investigation of the Jan. 6 insurrection and about this case itself. Some said they'd consumed a little of the House hearings, if that.

Many of the potential jurors had said they'd heard minimally about Bannon's case, yet a large number of them had taken in at least some of the select committee's public hearings. But awareness alone wasn't enough for them to be tossed from the jury pool.

Steve Bannon is on trial on two criminal charges for his failure to comply with the House's Jan. 6, 2021, investigation 10 months after receiving subpoenas from the select committee.

The polarizing long-time Trump ally has always been at the top of the Jan. 6 witness list for House investigators. But Justice Department prosecutors say the trial is intended to punish Bannon for noncompliance with the subpoenas, rather than coerce him into sharing information.

Here are key things to know about the case as opening statements begin:

Why the case matters: The case is a major test of what leverage Congress has when a witness evades a House subpoena. Bannon's is the first of two similar House select committee subpoena cases to head to trial; a contempt case against former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro is still in its early stages.

Bannon's trial also carries special relevance for the House panel as it continues to negotiate bringing in additional witnesses, and as it prepares for a major primetime hearing Thursday night intended to spotlight what committee members have called former President Donald Trump's "dereliction of duty" on January 6.

How the trial could unfold: Prosecutors pledge that their case against Bannon will be presented succinctly, over just a few days, with only two or three prosecution witnesses. That list includes House committee investigators.

It's unknown how extensive Bannon's defense will be, or if he will want to take the stand in his own defense. He will not be able to force House members to testify, the judge has said.

Early in the case, Bannon vowed to make the proceedings the "misdemeanor from hell for (Attorney General) Merrick Garland, (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi and (President) Joe Biden." But at a recent court hearing, his defense attorney David Schoen complained, "What's the point of going to trial here if there is no defense?"

Bannon's attempts to stop the trial: Bannon — who accepted an 11th-hour pardon from Trump in 2021 as he was facing conspiracy wire fraud and money laundering charges in Manhattan's federal court related to a border wall fundraising scheme — has made a series of attempts in court in recent days to stop the trial, to fashion more of a defense, or to prepare for possible appeals.

So far, US District Judge Carl Nichols has overwhelmingly sided with the Justice Department on what evidence the jury can hear, cutting off Bannon's ability to try to defer to advice his attorney gave him or to use internal DOJ policies on presidential advisers that he hoped might protect him.

In recent weeks, Trump indicated he wanted to waive any executive privilege that might have applied to Bannon, and Bannon suggested he may be interested in speaking with the House committee — a series of events that Bannon's team now wants to try to show to the jury. But his ability to bring up arguments about executive privilege will be, at best, severely limited. Bannon was not a government official during the period the committee is probing.

The charges: A federal grand jury indicted the right-wing figure in November on two counts of criminal contempt — one for his failure to provide testimony demanded by the House select committee's subpoena in the fall and the other for his failure to produce documents. A key issue at trial will be whether the jury agrees with prosecutors and the House that Bannon's October subpoena deadlines were final, and that he deliberately disregarded them.

Both charges he faces are misdemeanors. But if he is found guilty, each carries a mandatory minimum of 30 days in jail.

Keep reading about the case here.

Steve Bannon — who is on trial because he defied a congressional subpoena — told the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection that he is now willing to testify, ideally at a public hearing, according to a letter obtained by CNN. But in a court filing, federal prosecutors called Bannon's reversal a "last-minute" effort that doesn't change the case against him, pointing out that he has not produced subpoenaed records.

"The Defendant's last-minute efforts to testify almost nine months after his default — he has still made no effort to produce records — are irrelevant to whether he willfully refused to comply in October 2021 with the Select Committee's subpoena," prosecutors wrote.

Bannon's reversal came after he received a letter from former President Donald Trump waiving executive privilege, although both the House select committee and federal prosecutors contend that privilege claim never gave Bannon carte blanche to ignore a congressional subpoena in the first place.

Bannon was charged last year with two counts of criminal contempt of Congress. He has argued that he was free to ignore his congressional subpoena in order to protect Trump's potential privilege claims. But federal prosecutors and other legal experts have argued that privilege does not apply to Bannon — who left his White House job as chief strategist years before the Capitol riot — and did not give him the authority to refuse to provide any documents or testimony to the committee.

The Jan. 6 committee was interested in speaking to Bannon about his communications with Trump in December 2020, when Bannon reportedly urged him to focus on the Jan. 6 certification of the presidential election results. Committee members were also interested in Bannon's comments in the run-up to the Capitol insurrection, including a podcast on Jan. 5 in which he predicted, "All hell is going to break loose tomorrow."