Steve Bannon ‘revenge-subpoenas’ January 6 committee
Bannon’s legal team has subpoenaed 16 lawmakers and congressional staffers to testify at July trial
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Your support makes all the difference.Steve Bannon’s lawyers have subpoenaed Nancy Pelosi and members of the House Select Committee investigating the 6 January riots.
Mr Bannon was indicted in November last year by a federal grand jury for his refusal to comply with a subpoena to testify and produce documents.
Now, the former Donald Trump aide is seeking to subpoena the January 6 committee as part of his challenge to whether the panel was properly formed.
Mr Bannon’s trial is set for next month. He has pleaded not guilty.
According to Mr Bannon’s legal team, he subpoenaed 16 lawmakers and congressional staffers to testify at the July trial and produce documents.
The subpoenas were aimed at all nine members of the select committee that is investigating the Capitol building riots, three committee staffers and the general counsel for the House of Representatives Douglas Letter, CNN reported.
Mr Bannon has also subpoenaed Ms Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Rep Jim Clyburn.
Bloomberg, citing experts, reported that getting a court to enforce subpoenas against sitting members of Congress is a “difficult task”. But, it said that the argument that Ms Pelosi didn’t follow House rules might make it even messier.
David Schoen, one of Mr Bannon’s attorneys, told the network that it would be a “terrible irony” if the committee tries to quash Mr Bannon’s subpoenas and said that the documents his client is seeking belong to the American people.
Thomas Spulak, who served as general counsel to the House of Representatives in the 1990s, said that “in this particular case, I’m extremely confident that the staff members and members of the House would be shielded by the Speech and Debate Clause”.
He added: “I’m very confident that defence would be upheld, and they will not be compelled to produce anything or appear for anything.”
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