In the run-up to his status hearing in federal court on Tuesday, U.S. prosecutors told a judge they would likely need just a single day to try former White House strategist Steve Bannon for the two contempt of Congress charges he was indicted on last month. Bannon disagreed. Prosecutors offered the timeframe to U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in an 8-page filing Monday night ahead of a status hearing on Tuesday.  They argue Bannon’s case should be extremely straightforward: He was asked to provide Congress with records and deposition related to its probe of the attack on the Capitol, and Bannon flatly refused, on multiple occasions and over several weeks, to cooperate. Prosecutors requested a trial date be set for Apr. 15, roughly five months from the time of Bannon’s indictment. Bannon’s lawyer Evan Corcoran suggested the trial could take up to 10 days and should launch in October, a full year after the indictment. Notably, if Bannon got his way, his trial would begin just as the 2022 midterm elections are rolling. Corcoran called for access to documents from the House of Representatives, the White House, and the Department of Justice as it relates to his case. Judge Carl Nichols conceded Tuesday that he was “loathe to split the difference” but ordered Bannon’s trial to be set for July 18 with jury selection to start that day.  Read more