Related video above from 2021: Steve Bannon appears in court on contempt charges

Steve Bannon, a former White House strategist and ally of Donald Trump who faces criminal charges after months of defying a congressional subpoena over the Capitol riot, has told the House committee investigating the attack that he is now willing to testify.

Bannon's turnabout was conveyed in a letter late Saturday from his attorney, lawmakers said, as the committee prepares to air some of its most striking revelations yet this week against Trump in what may be its final set of hearings.

"I expect that we will be hearing from him and there are many questions that we have for him," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. She and other committee members said in television interviews Sunday they intend to have Bannon sit for a private interview, which they typically conduct in a deposition with sworn testimony.

Bannon had been one of the highest-profile Trump-allied holdouts in refusing to testify before the committee, leading to two criminal counts of contempt of Congress last year for resisting the committee's subpoena. He has argued that his testimony is protected by Trump's claim of executive privilege. The committee contends such a claim is dubious because Trump had fired Bannon from the White House in 2017 and Bannon was thus a private citizen when he was consulting with the then-president in the run-up to the riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Still, in recent days, as the former president grew frustrated with what he decried as a one-sided presentation by the committee of seven Democrats and two Republicans, Trump said he would waive that privilege claim, according to a letter Saturday to Bannon's lawyer.

"If you reach an agreement on a time and place for your testimony, I will waive executive privilege for you, which allows for you to go in and testify truthfully and fairly, as per the request of the unselect committee of political thugs and hacks," Trump wrote.

The committee's Thursday evening hearing will examine the three-hour plus stretch when Trump failed to act as a mob of supporters stormed the Capitol. It will be the first hearing in prime time since the June 9 debut that was viewed by 20 million people.

A hearing Tuesday will focus on the plotting and planning of the insurrection by white nationalist groups such as the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters, and will also highlight testimony taken Friday from former White House counsel Pat Cipollone.

It comes after surprise testimony last month from former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson provided the most compelling evidence yet that Trump could be linked to a federal crime. Since then, the committee has seen an influx of new information and confidential tips.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., suggested that Bannon "had a change of heart, and after watching, presumably, all of these people come forward, including Cassidy Hutchinson, he's decided that he wants to come in, and if he wants to come in, I'm certain that the committee would be very interested in hearing from him."

Bannon's trial on the two criminal counts is July 18. A hearing in his case was scheduled for Monday in federal court in Washington. Bannon has been seeking a delay in his trial to at least fall.

It's unclear how much Bannon intends to cooperate. He has expressed a preference to appear before the committee in a public hearing. The committee is making clear he must first sit for a private interview, typically in a sworn deposition. It's also possible he may opt to appear and then refuse to answer questions, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

"The way that we have treated every single witness is the same, that they come in, they talk to the committee there," Raskin said. "If they're going to take a deposition, they're sworn under oath. It's videotaped. It's recorded, and then we take it from there."

The committee says it wants to hear from Bannon because he "had specific knowledge about the events planned for Jan. 6 before they occurred." It cited as an example comments that he made on his podcast the day before the riot.

"It's not going to happen like you think it's going to happen. OK, it's going to be quite extraordinarily different. All I can say is strap in," Bannon said in that podcast. "All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. ... So many people said, 'Man, if I was in a revolution, I would be in Washington.' Well, this is your time in history."

House investigators have been digging deeper into the evidence collected so far about the role extremist groups played in the deadly insurrection and what Trump was doing as the violence ensued down the street from the White House.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who will lead Thursday's hearing with Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., described the upcoming testimony as key to providing an extensive timeline of what Trump did and did not do in those critical hours on the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021. That includes Trump's tweet criticizing Vice President Mike Pence for lacking "courage" as angry protesters outside the Capitol were heard chanting "Hang Mike Pence" for not challenging Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.

"We want to show the American people what was the president doing during that time," Kinzinger said Sunday. "The rest of the country knew that there was an insurrection. The president obviously had to have known there was an insurrection. So where was he? What was he doing? It's a very important hearing. Pay attention. Because I think it goes to the heart of what is the oath of a leader."

Tuesday's hearing will explore efforts to assemble the mob on the National Mall and then organize the march down Pennsylvania Avenue, where some rioters — armed with pipes, bats and bear spray — charged into the Capitol, quickly overrunning the overwhelmed police force. More than 100 police officers were injured, many beaten, bloodied and bruised, that day.

It will also highlight a meeting on Dec. 18, 2020 at the White House in which former Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, onetime Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and others floated the idea of seizing voting machines and invoking national security emergency powers, to the heated objection from several White House lawyers who argued that Trump needed to accept his defeat, according to Raskin, who will lead Tuesday's hearing.

"We're gonna get to use a lot of Mr. Cipollone's testimony," he said. "He was aware of every major move, I think, that Donald Trump was making to try to overthrow the 2020 election and essentially seize the presidency."

Kinzinger spoke on ABC's "This Week, Lofgren was on CNN's "State of the Union" and Raskin appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation."

___

Associated Press writer Hannah Fingerhut in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON —

Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump was convicted Friday of contempt charges for defying a congressional subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Bannon was found guilty after a trial that lasted around five days in federal court in Washington on two counts: one for refusing to appear for a deposition and the other for refusing to provide documents in response to the committee’s subpoena.

He faces up to two years in a federal lockup when he’s sentenced. Each count carries a minimum sentence of 30 days in jail.

The jury of eight men and four women deliberated for just under three hours before returning the verdict.

This is a breaking news update. Earlier story follows below:

Steve Bannon's contempt of Congress trial went to the jury Friday, as the panel began deliberating the fate of the longtime Donald Trump ally.

Bannon is charged with two counts of criminal contempt for refusing to appear before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol and the events leading up to the deadly riot. Each count carries a minimum of 30 days in jail and up to a year.

In closing arguments Friday morning, both sides re-emphasized their primary positions from the trial. The prosecution maintained that Bannon willfully ignored clear and explicit deadlines, and the defense claimed Bannon believed those deadlines were flexible and subject to negotiation.

Bannon was served with a subpoena on Sept. 23 last year ordering him to provide requested documents to the committee by Oct. 7 and appear in person by Oct. 14. Bannon's attorney Evan Corcoran told jurors Friday in his closing arguments that those deadlines were mere "placeholders" while lawyers on each side negotiated terms.

Corcoran said the committee "rushed to judgment" because it "wanted to make an example of Steve Bannon."

Corcoran also hinted that the government's main witness, Jan. 6 committee chief counsel Kristin Amerling, was personally biased. Amerling admitted on the stand that she is a lifelong Democrat and has been friends with one of the prosecutors for years. Corcoran also vaguely hinted that the signature of Jan. 6 committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss) looked different on the subpoena than on other letters but dropped that topic when the prosecution objected.

Prosecutors focused on the series of letters exchanged between the Jan. 6 committee and Bannon's lawyers. The correspondence shows Thompson immediately dismissing Bannon's claim that he was exempted by Trump's claim of executive privilege and explicitly threatening Bannon with criminal prosecution.

"The defense wants to make this hard, difficult and confusing," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Vaughn in her closing statement. "This is not difficult. This is not hard. There were only two witnesses because it's as simple as it seems."

Bannon declined to testify Thursday, and his lawyers did not call any witnesses, instead arguing the judge should dismiss the charges as unproven. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, didn't immediately rule on the request.

Bannon's team told the judge that Bannon saw no point in testifying at his trial since Nichols' previous rulings had gutted his avenues of defense. Among other things, Bannon's team was barred from calling as witnesses House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or members of the House panel.

Another Bannon lawyer, David Schoen, said Bannon "understands that he would be barred from telling the true facts."

Bannon served in an unofficial advisory capacity to Trump at the time of the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. The committee, which held a prime-time hearing Thursday that included Bannon's comments of Trump's post-election strategy, wanted to speak with Bannon because it had information that he was actively involved in planning, logistics and fundraising for Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election and stop Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden's victory.

The panel's subpoena demanded any documents or communications relating to Trump and others in his orbit, including lawyer Rudy Giuliani and extremist groups such as the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers.

Much of the trial testimony has been built around Amerling, who explained the extent to which the committee tried to engage Bannon and the timeline leading up to the missed deadline.

During cross-examination, Corcoran asked Amerling whether it was common for witnesses to appear before a congressional committee several weeks after the deadline date on a subpoena. Amerling answered "yes," but added only "when witnesses are cooperating with the committee."

Amerling said Bannon was uncooperative from the start, so there was no such leeway.

The committee heard nothing from Bannon until after the first deadline had passed, at which point his lawyer sent a letter to the committee stating that Bannon was protected by Trump's claim of executive privilege and would not be providing documents or appearing. The committee responded in writing that Trump's claim was invalid — Trump was no longer president, and Bannon was not employed at the White House at the time of the riot.

Vaughn told jurors on Thursday that the subpoena issued to Bannon "wasn't optional. It wasn't a request, and it wasn't an invitation. It was mandatory." She added: "The defendant's failure to comply was deliberate. It wasn't an accident, it wasn't a mistake. It was a choice."

Bannon was indicted in November on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress, one month after the Justice Department received the House panel's referral.

Longtime Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon was found guilty on two counts of contempt of Congress after his trial went to the jury Friday.

Bannon, 68, was convicted after a four-day trial in federal court in Washington on two counts: one for refusing to appear for a deposition and the other for refusing to provide documents in response to the committee’s subpoena. The jury of 8 men and 4 women deliberated for just under three hours.

He faces up to two years in federal prison when he’s sentenced on Oct. 21. Each count carries a minimum sentence of 30 days in jail.

The committee sought Bannon’s testimony over his involvement in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Bannon had initially argued that his testimony was protected by Trump’s claim of executive privilege. But the House panel and the Justice Department contend such a claim is dubious because Trump had fired Bannon from the White House in 2017 and Bannon was thus a private citizen when he was consulting with the then-president in the run-up to the riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Bannon’s lawyers tried to argue during the trial that he didn’t refuse to cooperate and that the dates “were in flux.” They pointed to the fact that Bannon had reversed course shortly before the trial kicked off — after Trump waived his objection — and had offered to testify before the committee.

In closing arguments Friday morning, both sides re-emphasized their primary positions from the trial. The prosecution maintained that Bannon willfully ignored clear and explicit deadlines, and the defense claimed Bannon believed those deadlines were flexible and subject to negotiation.

Bannon was served with a subpoena on Sept. 23 last year ordering him to provide requested documents to the committee by Oct. 7 and appear in person by Oct. 14. Bannon was indicted in November on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress, a month after the Justice Department received the House panel’s referral.

Bannon’s attorney Evan Corcoran told jurors Friday in his closing arguments that those deadlines were mere “placeholders” while lawyers on each side negotiated terms.

Corcoran said the committee “rushed to judgment” because it “wanted to make an example of Steve Bannon.”

NEW YORK, N.Y. — President Donald Trump's former political adviser Steve Bannon was arrested Thursday morning on charges that he and three others scammed many people who donated an online fundraising scheme called “We Build The Wall.”

The charges were outlined in an indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court.

Federal prosecutors say Bannon and three others “orchestrated a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors" in connection with an online crowdfunding campaign that raised more than $25 million to build a wall along the southern border of the U.S.

Along with Bannon, the other three men arrested in the case are Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato, and Timothy Shea. They’re each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, both of which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

According to the indictment, the scheme started in December of 2018.

To induce donors to donate to the campaign, court documents say Kolfage repeatedly and falsely assured the public that he would “not take a penny in salary or compensation” and that “100% of the funds raised . . . will be used in the execution of our mission and purpose” because, as Bannon publicly stated, “we’re a volunteer organization.”

Those representations were reportedly false. In truth, prosecutors say Kolfage, Bannon, Badolato, and Shea received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donor funds from "We Build the Wall," which they each used in a manner inconsistent with the organization’s public representations.

In particular, Kolfage is accused of covertly taking more than $350,000 in donations for his personal use, while Bannon allegedly used a non-profit organization under his control to receive over $1 million from the campaign. Prosecutors say Bannon used at least some of that money to cover hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal expenses.

To conceal the payments to Kolfage from "We Build the Wall," the men allegedly devised a scheme to route those payments from the campaign to Kolfage indirectly through a nonprofit and a shell company under Shea’s control, among other avenues.

“They did so by using fake invoices and sham ‘vendor’ arrangements, among other ways, to ensure, as Kolfage noted in a text message to Badolato, that his pay arrangement remained ‘confidential’ and kept on a ‘need to know’ basis,” prosecutors say.

Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “As alleged, the defendants defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors, capitalizing on their interest in funding a border wall to raise millions of dollars, under the false pretense that all of that money would be spent on construction. While repeatedly assuring donors that Brian Kolfage, the founder and public face of We Build the Wall, would not be paid a cent, the defendants secretly schemed to pass hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kolfage, which he used to fund his lavish lifestyle. We thank the USPIS for their partnership in investigating this case, and we remain dedicated to rooting out and prosecuting fraud wherever we find it.”