Steve Bannon Trial Day 2: Judge Again Denies Delay; Jury Is Sworn In

Steve Bannon’s trial for contempt of Congress is proceeding. On day two, Bannon continued to plead for additional delays, and was denied as the jury selection was completed and the panel was sworn in.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols is a Trump appointee, but that hasn’t prevented him from ruling against Donald Trump and allies multiple times, as Business Insider documented in November.

He’s already denied multiple motions by Steve Bannon, and followed that up on Tuesday by again rejecting a request for a month-long delay in trial, ABC reports. Bannon’s legal representation had argued that the delay was needed due to a “seismic shift” in their understanding of the evidence the government would bring against the former Trump advisor.

Jury selection also isn’t shaping up to be on Bannon’s side. Though a number of potential jurors were dismissed after saying that they knew of Bannon, and indicating that what they knew was not good, ABC is reporting that the jurors selected and sworn in include several who have opinions regarding the attack on the Capitol, and seem to be in favor of the January 6th Committee’s efforts to get to the truth.

Furthermore, NBC reporter Ryan Reilly shares that the jury is “majority non-white” — and hints that this may not bode well following some of Bannon’s rhetoric on racism.

The fate of Steve Bannon, who once said that people should wear it as a “badge of honor” when someone calls them a racist, will be in the hands of a majority non-white jury.

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) July 19, 2022

Reilly also shared a statement from the prosecutor in the case, summing up the general gist of the government’s case against the Trump ally: he was subpoenaed, the call to testify was not optional, and Bannon thought himself above the law and defied it.

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NEW: federal prosecutor in Steve Bannon trial opening: “It wasn’t optional. It wasn’t a request, and it wasn’t an invitation. It was mandatory… The defendant decided he was above the law… and that’s why we’re here today.”

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) July 19, 2022

According to RawStory, prosecutors said back in December that it would only take a single day for them to make their case against Bannon, though his defense attorneys estimated at the time that they would need about ten days to present their side.