CNN’s Berman Grills Steve Bannon’s Lawyer Over Contempt of Congress Guilty Verdict: Did He ‘Get Bad Legal Counsel’?

CNN’s John Berman held a tense conversation with Steve Bannon’s lawyer about the ex-Donald Trump strategist and his guilty verdict for contempt of Congress.

Attorney David Schoen, who previously represented Trump during his second impeachment trial, gave an interview to Berman Monday — his first interview since Bannon was convicted for refusing to comply with a January 6 Committee subpoena. Schoen claimed to have a “bulletproof” case to appeal the verdict, saying the judge who presided over Bannon’s case allegedly refused to offer him a deal with any lenience if he gave the 11th-hour testimony he offered to the Jan. 6 Committee.

“They refused to do that,” Schoen said. “The reason the appeal is bulletproof is the statute charges willful conduct.”

Before Bannon’s conviction, Judge Carl Nichols, issued a ruling which determined that the trial would be used to ascertain that Bannon “willfully and deliberately” ignored a Congressional subpoena. The ruling set a low legal threshold for the government to prove Bannon’s conduct, but Schoen argued that Congress should’ve been obligated to prove Bannon knowingly acted in a criminal manner.

“In this case, Steve Bannon listened to his lawyer and believed he did the only thing the law permitted,” Schoen said.

Berman followed up by noting that Bannon and Peter Navarro are being charged with congressional contempt, but Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino have not been charged after previously engaging with the committee. This led Berman to ask “did Steve Bannon get bad legal counsel when the counsel told him not to cooperate?”

“I wouldn’t say so,” Schoen said. “There’s a whole body of authoritative opinions from the Justice Department called the Office of Legal Counsel Opinions. They’re binding on the Justice Department. What this lawyer relied on is six decades of those opinions that say if a current or former member of the executive branch is subpoenaed to Congress and executive privilege is invoked, then that person doesn’t have to show up.”

Schoen and Berman went on to spar over the context of Trump offering executive privilege to Bannon ahead, and whether that should’ve granted the latter legal immunity.

Watch above, via CNN.