Judge orders Justice Dept to hand over certain internal legal records to
ex-Trump adviser Bannon
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[March 17, 2022]
By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on
Wednesday ordered the Justice Department to provide former President
Donald Trump's adviser Steve Bannon access to certain sensitive internal
legal opinions or other related records that could potentially help
bolster his defense against criminal contempt of Congress charges.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols told prosecutors they must produce
"statements or writings reflecting official DOJ policy," including
nonpublic opinions, that relate to "the department's policy on
prosecuting or not prosecuting government or former government officials
raising executive privilege claims or defenses of immunity."
Bannon, a prominent adviser to Trump, is facing criminal charges for
defying a subpoena issued by a congressional committee investigating the
Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. His trial is tentatively set
to begin on July 18.
He has refused to provide testimony or documents, citing Trump's
insistence that the material is protected under a legal doctrine called
executive privilege.
As part of his defense, his attorneys hope to argue that Bannon relied
on legal advice from his lawyer Robert Costello.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Mar/17/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
Costello previously advised Bannon that he could not testify or produce
records to the House of Representatives Select Committee unless it
brokered a deal with Trump or got a federal court to agree to waive
executive privilege.
As part of his reasoning, Costello cited a number of prior legal
opinions published publicly by the Justice Department's Office of Legal
Counsel (OLC), which found that current and former executive branch
officials were immune from congressional subpoenas.
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![](../images/031722pics/news_k91.jpg)
Steve Bannon, talk show host and former White House advisor to
former President Donald Trump, leaves an appearance in U.S. District
Court after being indicted for refusal to comply with a
congressional subpoena over the January 6 attacks on the U.S.
Capitol in Washington, U.S., November 15, 2021. REUTERS/Jim
Bourg/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Mar/17/images/ads/current/graue_21CAMARO_100421.png) During a roughly two-hour hearing on
Wednesday, Nichols asked prosecutors skeptical questions about how
they were able to rationalize charging Bannon with contempt, given
the department had still never withdrawn its public OLC opinions.
"How are those consistent positions?," Nichols asked. "In other
words, how can the department ... simultaneously say someone in that
position has absolute immunity from showing up and can be prosecuted
for failing to show up?"
Amanda Vaughan, one of the prosecutors in the case, said the
department's prior OLC opinions are not relevant or analogous to the
judge's example.
Although Nichols agreed to grant Bannon's team access to some
internal DOJ records, he said he would deny its other requests to
access sensitive materials such as testimony that the government
provided to the grand jury.
Releasing such records, he said, would be a "serious step" and he
did not think Bannon's lawyers made a strong argument for why it
would be material to their defense.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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