One of the attorneys representing former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon in the criminal contempt of Congress case against him is asking to be released from service as Mr Bannon’s lawyer, because he may be called to testify at the upcoming trial.
Mr Bannon, a former naval officer and conservative media executive who chaired former president Donald Trump 2016 campaign, is set to face trial next month on charges that he wilfully defied subpoenas for documents and testimony issued to him by the House January 6 select committee.
In a four-page motion filed before US District Judge Carl Nichols, attorney Robert Costello said the fact that he is “the only individual” who interacted with the committee on Mr Bannon’s behalf and his status as Mr Bannon’s “sole basis of information about the facts and the law concerning this matter,” there has “always been the possibility that [he] might be called as a witness in this matter”.
Mr Costello noted that Judge Nichols has not yet decided whether to permit him to testify, and said if he does not, “there will be no pathway to inform the Jury about the communications with the Select Committee” or prosecutors, who he goes on to accuse of “[interfering] with Mr Bannon’s attorney-client relationship by attempting to turn [him into a witness against [his] client by surreptitiously subpoenaing [his] home, office direct line and cellphone records while at the same time failing in their attempts to obtain [his] social media information”.
The accusations in question stem from two meetings Mr Costello had with Department of Justice officials in October 2021 with the aim of persuading them not to charge Mr Bannon with contempt after the House of Representatives voted to refer Mr Bannon’s refusal to comply with the select committee subpoena for prosecution.
Mr Costello unsuccessfully attempted to have the court exclude evidence of the meetings, at which he provided the FBI with evidence showing Mr Bannon had been informed that he could not refuse to comply with the subpoena on grounds that his testimony was shielded by executive privilege.
