A judge once again declined to delay Steve Bannon's trial for contempt of Congress

WASHINGTON — A judge once again on Thursday refused to delay Steve Bannon’s trial for contempt of Congress, which is set to get underway on Monday.

Judge Carl Nichols said that he was “hopeful” they would be able to find a jury that hadn’t been paying close attention to the Jan. 6 committee hearings and didn't know much about Bannon and would be able to fairly decide the case.

Bannon’s lawyers had once again argued that there was too much pre-trial publicity about the case. Their latest motion cited a CNN documentary that is supposed to air on the network on Sunday night.

"We're still going to be at trial on Monday," Nichols said.

Bannon was indicted last year for refusing to answer questions from the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Nichols previously ruled against delaying the trial, despite Bannon's apparent change of heart last weekend about testifying before the committee, which the Justice Department dismissed as a "last-ditch attempt to avoid accountability." Bannon's lawyer attributed his client's new willingness to cooperate with the Jan. 6 probe to a letter from former President Donald Trump that waived a purported claim of executive privilege.

Nichols had ruled largely against Bannon in a series of pre-trial motions on Monday, including knocking out several potential defenses his team had raised. At the conclusion of that hearing, Bannon lawyer David Schoen said, “What is the point of going to trial here if there are no defenses?”

Bannon's lawyers again asked to delay the trial in a motion on Wednesday, citing the upcoming CNN documentary, as well as references to the former Trump strategist in the televised Jan. 6 committee hearing that aired on Tuesday.

In his ruling Thursday, Nichols noted Bannon's ongoing objection to moving forward with the trial and said he would allow Bannon’s team to continue making a record about their objections for the appeals court.

Bannon was not present in the courtroom for Thursday's ruling.

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