Judge orders Justice Dept to hand over certain internal legal records to ex-Trump adviser Bannon

[Calista241]

Source: Reuters

A U.S. judge on Wednesday ordered the Justice Department to provide former President Donald Trump's adviser Steve Bannon access to certain sensitive internal legal opinions or other related records that could potentially help bolster his defense against criminal contempt of Congress charges.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols told prosecutors they must produce "statements or writings reflecting official DOJ policy," including nonpublic opinions, that relate to "the department's policy on prosecuting or not prosecuting government or former government officials raising executive privilege claims or defenses of immunity."

Bannon, a prominent adviser to Trump, is facing criminal charges for defying a subpoena issued by a congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. His trial is tentatively set to begin on July 18.

He has refused to provide testimony or documents, citing Trump's insistence that the material is protected under a legal doctrine called executive privilege.

As part of his defense, his attorneys hope to argue that Bannon relied on legal advice from his lawyer Robert Costello.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/judge-orders-justice-dept-hand-over-certain-internal-legal-records-ex-trump-2022-03-16/

[spooky3]

1. A Trump appointee--no surprise. Nt

[Fullduplexxx]

2. his appointment to the bench in 2019.

[PSPS]

3. This trump judge carl nichols has repeatedly stymied all attempts to ferret out the corruption

[texasfiddler]

4. If someone said Bannon should be be-headed, would they be prosecuted?

Bannon asked for the beheading of a prominent Physician working with our government (I will not say the physician's name because he did not deserve this threat). I still do not understand why he got away with that statement. If we were to enter a civil war, my first lethal action would be against Bannon.

[keopeli]

5. The rest of my life, I'll be reading judicial opinions and, without research, qualifying them as

A trump appointee

The stench from the bench.

A constant pox on our country.

From this time forward, every judge will be referred to by the person who put them there. The old paradigm of blind justice is gone, sadly.

[Ford_Prefect]

6. My hope is that many of those nominees were dirty before appointment and the

slack-ass vetting done to shove them into place means they are vulnerable due to more than their opinions.

[pfitz59]

7. The DC Court is a steppingstone to SCOTUS

This judge is tainted beyond repair.

[Calista241]

8. He's a District Judge, the 1st level of the federal court system.

The DC Court of Appeals is above this guy in the legal hierarchy.

[intheflow]

9. So he refuses to comply with DOJ request "to provide testimony or documents,"

and in turn demands the DOJ hand over documents on internal DoJ policies. I really hate this asshole.