Steve Bannon demands accusers on Jan 6 Committee face him at trial

Bannon specifically called out committee chairman Bennie Thompson, calling him "gutless" for sending a staff member to testify as the prosecution's first witness. He made his comments while speaking to reporters outside of the courthouse, where he slammed Thompson as an "absolute disgrace."

"Bennie Thompson is a total, absolute disgrace, and this show trial they’re running is a disgrace," Bannon said.

"He didn’t have the guts to show up here, and he sent a staffer," he said. "I challenge Bennie Thompson today to have the courage to come to this courthouse. If he’s going to charge somebody with a crime, he’s got to be man enough to show up here... It is outrageous. For them to sit there and try to get a complete hearing and they won't get any testimony, about FBI involvement, about DHS involvement, about any involvement, and what's driving this. The total and complete illegitimacy of Joe Biden," he said.

Bannon is on trial for criminal contempt of Congress after not providing documents upon the committee's request in its probe of January 6, 2021.

Assistant US Attorney Amanda Rose Vaughn has been critical of Bannon, saying that "the defendant decided he was above the law," saying that the subpoena was not a request but was instead a "legally enforceable order" that went ignored by Bannon, reports The Washington Times.

Bannon has argued that the documents requested by the committee were still under protection under former President Trump's claims of executive privilege, as they were the subject of a pending court battle. The prosecution is arguing that Bannon ignored the requests for the documents, while his legal team is arguing that Bannon did not ignore the subpoena and was in communication with the committee on why there would be delays in handing over the evidence.

In an exclusive podcast for The Post Millennial, lawyer David Freiheit, better known as Viva Frei, argued that the trial is "pure politics," but said that it was a "double-edged sword."

"Raise the argument to the jury that this is pure politics," he said, " and the jury might say 'yeah this is pure politics, and that's why we're gonna find Bannon guilty."

"The importance of this trial is going to be whether or not one continues to view the prosecutorial system as one that pursues justice, or one that pursues politics," he said.