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The Justice Department has already weaponized breezy discussions with Steve Bannon's lawyer to turn him into a witness confronting his own client. But now, the right-wing provocateur is trying to seize on those same FBI interviews to turn the tables on the Jan. half-dozen Committee.
This week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) chimed in on the ongoing criminal instance confronting Bannon for "contempt of Congress," with lawyers request for permission to make some necessary clarifications in front of the federal judge overseeing Bannon's example. Pelosi wanted to defend the legitimacy of the committee'southward congressional amendment that started this whole mess—the 1 Bannon ignored by refusing to appear before the panel and answer questions about his role in the insurrection final year.
The commission is one time again in an statement over whether it can legally event subpoenas, as the sign-off of a ranking fellow member is required for congressional subpoena ability, and Bannon'southward lawyers debate that vice chair of the Jan. 6 commission, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), doesn't count because it was Democrats, not Republicans, who gave her that position.
Judge Wants to Review Investigation Tactics in Bannon Instance
The superlative attorney for the Firm of Representatives has already written a legal paper outlining how Cheney qualifies as the ranking member.
"Representative Cheney, by virtue of being the first minority party fellow member appointed to the select commission, is, by definition, the senior ranking minority member," attorney Douglas Letter wrote, citing "the Firm's long-standing interpretation" of the term.
But Bannon's lawyers are now seizing on something Letter of the alphabet told the FBI when he spoke to them on November. two, 2021.
According to an FBI summary of the interview with three special agents, "Letter explained that the select committee was specifically appointed by the speaker of the Firm and there were no bulk or ranking members. Representative Liz Cheney is best-selling to be the vice chair of the select committee; since the select commission has a chair and a vice chair, there are no express rules for the vice chair as in that location would exist for a ranking fellow member."
On Thursday, Bannon lawyer David Schoen told The Daily Beast that the stark contrast shows how the House's own attorney is undermining the subpoena'south legitimacy. And he noted that Letter of the alphabet spoke to FBI special agents knowing all too well that lying to federal law enforcement is a crime.
The FBI Cast an Incredibly Questionable Dragnet for Steve Bannon's Lawyer
"His position is untenable on the rules," Schoen said. "In that interview, he says unequivocally that at that place'southward no ranking minority fellow member in this committee. He was of class 100 percent right at that time. At that place is no ranking minority member. That's a term of art. He knows what that means."
The Republican Party tried to make the same arguments about a missing ranking minority member back in March, when information technology sued Pelosi to block the Jan. 6 committee's investigative subpoenas. That effort failed when U.S. Commune Judge Timothy J. Kelly dismissed the relevant portions of the lawsuit. He concluded that "the court must defer to the select committee's conclusion to treat Representative Cheney equally the ranking minority member." Equally a lower level federal court judge, his ruling is not binding on other judges, only it shows how this gambit is something of a long shot.
However, that lawsuit never cited Alphabetic character's contradictory assertions in these FBI 302 forms, every bit these interview summaries are chosen. The question is now before the court where Bannon will presently face trial, and the event might be different. U.S. Commune Judge Carl J. Nichols is shortly considering whether to accept the amicus brief written past Firm of Representatives lawyers. And if he does, Bannon'southward defense team volition seize on the discrepancy.
When the amicus cursory was presented publicly on Tuesday, a statement by Pelosi made no mention of the contrast. Instead, it focused on commending the Justice Section "for moving to hold Bannon accountable for his breathy disobedience of a lawful subpoena."
"By addressing many of Bannon'southward baseless arguments earlier the D.C. District Courtroom, the House continues to defend this constitutional ability likewise as its essential prerogative to found its own rules and practices," Pelosi'due south argument said.
Bannon's Squad Says FBI Secretly Spied on His Lawyer
But even Pelosi's attempt to arbitrate in Bannon'due south criminal instance is still mired in politics. According to congressional lawyers, House leadership couldn't fifty-fifty agree whether or non to submit this legal letter of the alphabet to the federal judge. In a recent vote past the so-called bipartisan legal advisory group—composed of Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Medico), Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC), Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA)—the group was dissever along party lines. Both Republicans refused to sign off on the certificate, and then in essence, Firm Democrats are defending the Jan. 6 Committee on their own.
Although institutional rules say the 5-person group of politicians "speaks for, and articulates the institutional position of the House in all litigation matters," McCarthy and Scalise refused to back up the amicus brief "out of business for damaging institutional prerogatives," according to a source.
Despite all the esoteric legal arguments now at play, the core facts of Bannon's situation are pretty plain: He was commanded to testify and turn over documents, and he didn't do it. And while he could have avoided this entire debacle by but showing upwards and staying tranquillity by pleading the Fifth Amendment right against self-discrimination, he instead has made himself a political martyr—while openly discussing the MAGA crowd'southward refusal to accept the 2022 election results on his War Room podcast.
These FBI interviews could play a prominent part at a court hearing scheduled subsequently this month. It would exist the second time the FBI'due south involvement in the case draws attention. Equally The Daily Beast revealed in March, the FBI bandage a questionable dragnet by secretly collecting a history of the communications of another Bannon lawyer, Robert Costello—in a manner and so sloppy that they actually vacuumed up information most other Bob Costellos in other states.
Final Fri, the DOJ revealed that information technology had, in fact, always considered the attorney a witness to a crime.
In a court filing, federal prosecutors doubled down on their aggressive—and rare—tactic of roping a criminal suspect'southward lawyer into their investigation.
"The accused has chosen to retain the aforementioned attorney who was a witness to his criminal offence in this case," they wrote, saying their conclusion should non be understood to "mean the prosecution somehow turned Mr. Costello into a witness—he already was."
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Source: https://news.yahoo.com/bannon-using-fbi-interview-undermine-084910654.html
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