Decide orders Justice Dept handy over sure inside authorized information to ex-Trump adviser Bannon

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WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) – A U.S. choose on Wednesday ordered the Justice Division to supply former President Donald Trump’s adviser Steve Bannon entry to sure delicate inside authorized opinions or different associated information that might probably assist bolster his protection in opposition to legal contempt of Congress expenses.

U.S. District Decide Carl Nichols advised prosecutors they need to produce “statements or writings reflecting official DOJ coverage,” together with nonpublic opinions, that relate to “the division’s coverage on prosecuting or not prosecuting authorities or former authorities officers elevating government privilege claims or defenses of immunity.”

Bannon, a distinguished adviser to Trump, is dealing with legal expenses for defying a subpoena issued by a congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. His trial is tentatively set to start on July 18.

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He has refused to supply testimony or paperwork, citing Trump’s insistence that the fabric is protected below a authorized doctrine known as government privilege.

As a part of his protection, his attorneys hope to argue that Bannon relied on authorized recommendation from his lawyer Robert Costello.

Costello beforehand suggested Bannon that he couldn’t testify or produce information to the Home of Representatives Choose Committee until it brokered a cope with Trump or bought a federal court docket to comply with waive government privilege.

As a part of his reasoning, Costello cited a variety of prior authorized opinions revealed publicly by the Justice Division’s Workplace of Authorized Counsel (OLC), which discovered that present and former government department officers had been immune from congressional subpoenas.

Throughout a roughly two-hour listening to on Wednesday, Nichols requested prosecutors skeptical questions on how they had been in a position to rationalize charging Bannon with contempt, given the division had nonetheless by no means withdrawn its public OLC opinions.

“How are these constant positions?,” Nichols requested. “In different phrases, how can the division … concurrently say somebody in that place has absolute immunity from displaying up and could be prosecuted for failing to point out up?”

Amanda Vaughan, one of many prosecutors within the case, stated the division’s prior OLC opinions will not be related or analogous to the choose’s instance.

Though Nichols agreed to grant Bannon’s staff entry to some inside DOJ information, he stated he would deny its different requests to entry delicate supplies equivalent to testimony that the federal government offered to the grand jury.

Releasing such information, he stated, could be a “critical step” and he didn’t assume Bannon’s attorneys made a robust argument for why it will be materials to their protection.

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Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; enhancing by Jonathan Oatis

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Rules.



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