Washington (AFP) - Closing arguments are to be held on Friday in the case of former Donald Trump aide Steve Bannon for defying a subpoena to testify before lawmakers investigating the assault on the US Capitol.
Bannon, who led Trump's 2016 presidential election campaign, was among hundreds of people called by a House of Representatives committee to testify about the storming of Congress by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021.
The 68-year-old Republican strategist did not appear on the summons date or provide requested documents related to the attack and events leading up to it, and was indicted on two charges of contempt of Congress.
Prosecutors and Bannon's lawyers are to present their closing arguments on Friday morning, after which the judge will provide instructions to the jury hearing the case.
"The defendant decided he was above the law," prosecutor Amanda Vaughn told the panel of 12 jurors and two alternates at a courthouse in Washington on Tuesday."And that's why we're here today."
"He ignored orders to comply, even after Congress had rejected his excuses not to, and he put aside multiple warnings that he could face criminal prosecution," Vaughn said.
Bannon's lawyer Evan Corcoran denied his client had ignored the subpoena, saying the date was "the subject of ongoing discussions and negotiation" and "flexible."
Corcoran said the decision to hold Bannon in contempt was politically motivated, saying "politics is the lifeblood of the US House of Representatives" and it "invades every decision that they make."
Bannon's attorneys did not call any witnesses during the brief trial and said he would not testify in his own defense.
Vaughn, the prosecutor, said the House committee had cause to believe Bannon and other Trump advisors could have information on links between the White House and the Capitol rioters.
According to the committee, Bannon spoke to Trump the day before thousands of the former president's supporters stormed the Capitol in an effort to block the certification of Democrat Joe Biden's election victory.
They had been egged on by Trump in a fiery speech near the White House, during which he repeated his false claims of election fraud.
After refusing to testify for months, Bannon finally agreed this month to cooperate with the House investigation, a move prosecutors said was a "last-ditch attempt to avoid accountability."
Bannon, who served as Trump's strategy chief at the White House before being sacked in 2017, could serve 30 days to a year in jail for each of the two counts if found guilty.
