Steve Bannon, former White House senior counselor to President Donald Trump and one-time executive chairman of Breitbart News, will reportedly plead not guilty to criminal contempt of Congress on Thursday.
The court filing suggests a scheduled arraignment on Thursday, according to the Hill. Bannon has reportedly filed a Wednesday motion to “skip the arraignment — a move that requires sign off from the judge.”
Bannon was indicted Friday on two counts of criminal contempt for refusing to turn over documents requested by congressional subpoena and for neglecting to appear before the partisan, January 6 House Select Committee.
If convicted, Bannon could face up to a $1,000 fine for each offense and a year in jail.
After turning himself over to the FBI on Monday, Bannon told reporters he was going on offense to defend himself:
I’m telling you right now, this is going to be the misdemeanor from hell for Merrick Garland, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden.
Joe Biden ordered Merrick Garland to prosecute me from the White House lawn when he got off Marine One. And we’re going to do, we’re going to go on the offense. We’re tired of playing defense. We’re going to go on the offense on this and standby…
By the way, by the way, by the way, you should understand, Nancy Pelosi is taking on Donald Trump and Steve Bannon… she should ask Hillary Clinton how that turned out for them. Okay, we’re going on the offense.
“Not just Trump people and not just conservatives — every progressive, every liberal in this country that likes freedom of speech and liberty should be fighting for this case. That’s why I’m here today: for everybody. I’m never going to back down,” he added.
The indictment against Bannon suggests Biden’s readiness to prosecute political opponents. “Previous American presidential administrations have resisted investigating their former rivals, even after promising during an election to do so, on the merits of protecting executive privilege,” Breitbart News reported.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø
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