Steve Bannon pleaded not guilty to two counts of contempt of Congress, according to a Wednesday court filing.
Bannon signed a document filed in his D.C. federal criminal court case saying that he would enter a plea of not guilty, and that he had chosen to waive his right to a formal reading of the charges against him.
An arraignment in his case had been scheduled for Thursday. Bannon had his first court appearance before a magistrate on Monday, during which he opted to be arraigned later in the week.
A D.C. federal grand jury returned an indictment against Bannon last week on two counts of contempt of Congress, both of which stemmed from Bannon’s defiance of a subpoena issued in September by the House Jan. 6 Committee.
Bannon, who had not served in the White House since August 2017, refused to comply with the subpoena, saying that Jan. 6, 2021-related information was shielded by executive privilege.
Read the filing here:
I plead guilty to contempt of Steve Bannon.
“Defendant waives arraignment … but DEMANDS another press conference.”
Is it true you can catch herpes from watching a Steve Bannon press conference?
He’s praying for TV coverage of his tribulations. I hope the judge sees and says, “Nah. No mic for you.”
The judge had better impose some conditions on Bannon’s release on his own recognizance.
A gag order - or preferably an actual gag - would seem appropriate.