On Thursday, the trial of Steve Bannon continued, with the defense presenting their case. The former Trump chief strategist faces charges of contempt of Congress for failing to comply with subpoenas issued by the January 6 Committee.
In the fourth episode of an exclusive series for The Post Millennial, lawyer and YouTuber Viva Frei broke down everything that took place on day four of the Bannon trial.
"The defense has not called Steve Bannon, will not call any witnesses, and will just rely on the fact that the prosecution did not prove its case," Frei began, adding that as a result, there was no jury present in the courtroom.
"They filed two motions to dismiss," Frei continued, one urging the judge to "acquit Steve Bannon as is," and another known as a Rule Twenty-Nine arguing that the prosecution "did not meet the burden of proof and no reasonable jury could come to a conviction."
Frei explained that while the judge struck down the first motion, he took the second "under deliberation," stating that he would come to a conclusion following a verdict from the jury.
Perhaps the biggest story of Day Four was that the testimony of FBI investigator Stephen Hart had been struck, meaning the jury will be advised not to consider it while making their decision.
On Wednesday, Hart had cited posts made by Bannon on Gettr referencing the subpoena as the basis for his decision to investigate. The posts were intended to serve as "evidence" that Bannon refused to comply with the subpoena not because he thought he benefitted from executive privilege, but because he was "thumbing his nose at the authority of the committee."
"The only practical problem," said Frei of Hart's testimony being struck, "is that the jury's already heard it. So trying to scrub that from the brains of the jury members, good luck."
Frei then dove into the letter sent by former president Donald Trump to Steve Bannon waiving his executive privilege and allowing him to testify in front of the committee.
"This letter is a 4-D level chess troll," Frei said, calling "a thing of beauty."
In the letter, Trump refers to the January 6 Committee as "the unselect committee of political thugs and hacks who have allowed no due-process, no cross-examination, and no real Republican witnesses to be present or interviewed."
Frei went on to lament the fact that despite there being "much bigger fish to fry," the committee still decided to go after Bannon.
"It's clearly politically motivated," he added.
Day Five of the trial will see both sides give closing arguments, with the jury set to render their verdict soon after.
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