Steve Bannon's Lawyer Decries 'Vindictive' Prosecution by Jan 6. Committee

The lawyer representing Steve Bannon, the former Donald Trump adviser who refused to answer a subpoena from the January 6 committee, has said his client will not get a fair hearing in the lawmakers' investigation into the U.S. Capitol riots.

David Schoen also told Newsmax what he thought Bannon meant after his appearance in the federal court in which he said, "we're going to go on the offense."

Bannon has been charged with two counts: one of contempt of Congress for refusing to appear for a deposition, and also for refusing to provide documents in response to a subpoena.

"I don't normally comment on a pending case," Schoen told the conservative news outlet, before proceeding to do just that.

"I think going on the offense means we need to expose exactly what happened here," Schoen said.

"We need to expose that this is a scam, it was a set-up, it was a sham committee that nobody in America should trust to come up with any kind of credible results from."

Schoen mocked a statement by Attorney General Merrick Garland for describing the indictment against Bannon for contempt of Congress as reflecting the Department of Justice's "steadfast commitment" to the rule of law.

"Little could be further from the truth in what they have done in this case," Schoen said, "this is a selective prosecution. It's a vindictive prosecution."

Schoen took aim at committee members such as Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY) Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD) who have been public in their criticism of the former president.

Schoen also criticized the committee chair Representative Bennie Thompson (D-MS), who has already sued Trump over the violence that occurred when the former president's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.

"How on earth can that be a person heading up a congressional investigative committee?" said Schoen, "how can there possibly be a fair American kind of investigation?"

Schoen represented the ex-president during his second impeachment trial and has also lobbied for other Trump associates such as Roger Stone.

In comments that had re-emerged this week, Bannon was critical of Schoen during the impeachment process, calling him an "absent-minded professor."

According to the District Attorney's Office, each of the charges Bannon carries a maximum jail term of one year, as well as a fine of up to $100,000.

The House committee wants testimony from Bannon over his alleged role in what preceded the January 6 attack.

The committee has said that Bannon's statements, such as "all hell is going to break loose tomorrow" showed that he knew in advance what would happen. He is due to be arraigned on Thursday.

Newsweek has contacted the January 6 committee for comment.