The routine played out on the courthouse steps every day Bannon has been in court this week. While quiet and reserved in the presence of jurors at the defence table, outside the restraints are off and Bannon is Bannon — the same right-wing radio talk show host people either love or hate.
As Bannon spoke, a man held a large white sign with black letters behind him reading, “BIG LIE,” a reference to Trump’s false claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. That conspiracy theory helped trigger the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
“One last thing: I stand with Trump and the constitution,” Bannon, 68, told the crowd before walking away with a grin and brief salute.
Several people in the crowd cheered Bannon and screamed as he said Trump’s name, with one person shouting, “We love you!” As Bannon and his lawyers neared their black SUV, a man shouted at Bannon, calling him a “degenerate fascist traitor.”
“Coup plotter!” another man shouted.
It was par for the course during Bannon’s trial, which started on Monday with jury selection. The government’s star witness was the chief counsel to the Jan. 6 committee, who testified that Bannon brushed off multiple requests and warnings to comply with a subpoena. The committee had directed Bannon to send over documents by Oct. 7 and to appear for testimony on Oct. 14, Kristin Amerling testified.
The right-wing radio host didn’t meet either deadline, she said. Nine months later, on the eve of trial, Bannon finally approached the committee with an offer to testify, she said.
To some in the crowd waiting outside the Washington courthouse, that was all the evidence they needed to make up their minds. On Tuesday, when Bannon left the building, a woman held up a sign that said “Lock him up!”
Bannon was unfazed by his critics in public.
“I challenge Bennie Thompson today to have the courage to come to this courthouse,” Bannon said, referring to the Mississippi Democrat who chairs the select committee, which held a televised hearing about its probe in prime time last night. Thompson should have “the guts and the courage to show up here and say exactly why it’s a crime,” Bannon added.
A judge rejected Bannon’s attempt to force Thompson to testify. The government argued testimony from House members was irrelevant to the charges that Bannon failed to hand over records or be deposed by their deadlines. Bannon left the gaggle with a politically charged commentary on that day, too, saying the case against him was part of a “constitutional crisis.”
The Jan. 6 panel sought Bannon’s testimony because of his involvement in events leading up to the Capitol riot, including reports that he attended “war room” meetings at Washington’s Willard Hotel with Rudy Giuliani and others to discuss how to keep Trump in office after he lost the 2020 presidential election.
The committee, which has been revealing some findings in explosive televised hearings, has shown evidence of ties between Trump’s allies and extremists and documented two calls the former president had with Bannon on Jan. 5. After the first call, Bannon declared on his podcast: “All hell is going to break loose. Tomorrow, it’s all converging.” He added, “All I can say is strap in.”
Bannon’s name came up Thursday night in the committee’s prime-time public hearing. Vice-chair Liz Cheney played a recording of Bannon speaking before the 2020 election, saying Trump would claim the race was stolen if he was behind in the vote tally on election night.
Bannon’s words demonstrate that “Donald Trump’s plan to falsely claim victory in 2020, no matter what the facts actually were, was premeditated,” Cheney said. “Perhaps worse, Donald Trump believed he could convince his voters to buy it, whether he had any actual evidence of fraud or not.”
Bannon kept up this fight on the courthouse steps this week.
“What’s driving this, the total and complete illegitimacy of Joe Biden,” Bannon told onlookers as he stood in front of a bank of microphones. “Trump won.”
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Bannon is ringmaster in a ‘political circus’ on courthouse steps
Image: Bloomberg
Steve Bannon’s defence team was advised by a judge to not make a “political circus” out of his criminal contempt trial for refusing to co-operate with the House committee probing the Capitol riot.
That warning didn’t extend to the courthouse steps.
The longtime Donald Trump adviser on Thursday greeted a crowd of journalists and members of the public after his defence rested without offering any witnesses. Standing in sweltering Washington heat next to his lawyers, Bannon said he wasn’t afraid to testify despite his decision not to do so in this case.
“Every time, every time, more than anybody else in the Trump administration,” he said. “Stephen K. Bannon testifies.”
Trump watched US Capitol riot unfold on TV, ignored pleas to call for peace
The routine played out on the courthouse steps every day Bannon has been in court this week. While quiet and reserved in the presence of jurors at the defence table, outside the restraints are off and Bannon is Bannon — the same right-wing radio talk show host people either love or hate.
As Bannon spoke, a man held a large white sign with black letters behind him reading, “BIG LIE,” a reference to Trump’s false claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. That conspiracy theory helped trigger the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
“One last thing: I stand with Trump and the constitution,” Bannon, 68, told the crowd before walking away with a grin and brief salute.
Several people in the crowd cheered Bannon and screamed as he said Trump’s name, with one person shouting, “We love you!” As Bannon and his lawyers neared their black SUV, a man shouted at Bannon, calling him a “degenerate fascist traitor.”
“Coup plotter!” another man shouted.
It was par for the course during Bannon’s trial, which started on Monday with jury selection. The government’s star witness was the chief counsel to the Jan. 6 committee, who testified that Bannon brushed off multiple requests and warnings to comply with a subpoena. The committee had directed Bannon to send over documents by Oct. 7 and to appear for testimony on Oct. 14, Kristin Amerling testified.
The right-wing radio host didn’t meet either deadline, she said. Nine months later, on the eve of trial, Bannon finally approached the committee with an offer to testify, she said.
To some in the crowd waiting outside the Washington courthouse, that was all the evidence they needed to make up their minds. On Tuesday, when Bannon left the building, a woman held up a sign that said “Lock him up!”
Bannon was unfazed by his critics in public.
“I challenge Bennie Thompson today to have the courage to come to this courthouse,” Bannon said, referring to the Mississippi Democrat who chairs the select committee, which held a televised hearing about its probe in prime time last night. Thompson should have “the guts and the courage to show up here and say exactly why it’s a crime,” Bannon added.
A judge rejected Bannon’s attempt to force Thompson to testify. The government argued testimony from House members was irrelevant to the charges that Bannon failed to hand over records or be deposed by their deadlines. Bannon left the gaggle with a politically charged commentary on that day, too, saying the case against him was part of a “constitutional crisis.”
The Jan. 6 panel sought Bannon’s testimony because of his involvement in events leading up to the Capitol riot, including reports that he attended “war room” meetings at Washington’s Willard Hotel with Rudy Giuliani and others to discuss how to keep Trump in office after he lost the 2020 presidential election.
The committee, which has been revealing some findings in explosive televised hearings, has shown evidence of ties between Trump’s allies and extremists and documented two calls the former president had with Bannon on Jan. 5. After the first call, Bannon declared on his podcast: “All hell is going to break loose. Tomorrow, it’s all converging.” He added, “All I can say is strap in.”
Bannon’s name came up Thursday night in the committee’s prime-time public hearing. Vice-chair Liz Cheney played a recording of Bannon speaking before the 2020 election, saying Trump would claim the race was stolen if he was behind in the vote tally on election night.
Bannon’s words demonstrate that “Donald Trump’s plan to falsely claim victory in 2020, no matter what the facts actually were, was premeditated,” Cheney said. “Perhaps worse, Donald Trump believed he could convince his voters to buy it, whether he had any actual evidence of fraud or not.”
Bannon kept up this fight on the courthouse steps this week.
“What’s driving this, the total and complete illegitimacy of Joe Biden,” Bannon told onlookers as he stood in front of a bank of microphones. “Trump won.”
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
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