On Tuesday, a federal judge set the tentative date of July 18 for Steve Bannon’s trial on contempt of Congress charges. He was accused of refusing to cooperate in a probe into the Capitol Riot.

The trial will last approximately two weeks. Judge Carl Nichols made the ruling after listening to federal prosecutors as well as lawyers for Bannon at a hearing held in U.S. District Court, Washington.

It was split between the requests by prosecutors for an expedited trial, which would have been in the middle of April at the earliest, and Bannon’s lawyers who sought 10 months’ time to prepare.

The House voted to hold Bannon in contempt of Congress in late OctoberFor refusing to obey a subpoena issued by the select panel investigating the Jan. 6th riot for testimony and documents.

On the day of his victory, Trump supporters stormed Capitol forcing Congress to leave their chambers. This temporarily prevented lawmakers from confirming Joe Biden’s victory in the Electoral College. Trump and his many allies including Bannon spent several months falsely claiming that Biden won the election.

Bannon’s attorney argued that Bannon was complying with the executive privilege claim made by Trump. This prohibited the ex-White House senior advisor to provide the material requested by the committee.

Two counts of contempt were brought against Bannon by the federal grand jury in November. If convicted, Bannon faces a maximum sentenceOne year imprisonment with a possible fine up to $100,000 per count. He has pleaded guilty.

In its probe into the circumstances and causes of the Riot, the Jan. 6 select Committee issued numerous subpoenas to Bannon. However, he is still the only suspect in the investigation.

Mark Meadows, ex-chief of staff at Trump’s White House, said Tuesday that he was no longer willing to cooperate with the Jan. 6, select committee.

Meadows, a former House member, in an interview on the streaming news network Real America’s Voice, said the committee planned to ask about items that he considers protected by executive privilege.

Meadows stated that despite our sharing of documents and cooperation, they issued an unbeknownst-to-us subpoena. This was not even without a courtesy phone call. Meadows added. We feel it is best to continue to respect executive privilege at this stage. It looks like the courts will have to weigh in.

“It’s [Trump’s executive]Meadows stated, “Privilege; I cannot waive that.”

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