Major news outlets sided with Steve Bannon on some of their legal work

A coalition of the country’s largest media companies and news organizations gave a legal briefing in the United States. Support by Stephen K. Bannonhas asked a federal court not to prevent it from publicly releasing documents relating to the January 6 Capitol riot.

As part of the contempt proceedings brought against him by Congress, the government is trying to prevent Mr. Bannon from publishing the thousands of pages of documents he had access to. The coalition, which includes ABC, CBS, CNN, Dow Jones, NBC, The New York Times and The Washington Post, issued a brief statement on Tuesday arguing that the government’s proposed order would violate the First Amendment.

Mr. Bannon, once an adviser to former President Donald J. Trump, accused He was charged twice with contempt of Congress by a federal grand jury in November and after refusing to comply with a subpoena to testify and provide documents to the House committee investigating the January 6 gang attack. He pleaded not guilty.

As part of the discovery process, Mr. Bannon’s lawyers gained access to more than 1,000 pages of documents, including transcripts of witness statements and grand jury exhibits. In a filing dated 17 November, the Justice Department requested that a protective order be issued to prevent Mr Bannon from making any documents public.

In a later filing, he noted that Mr Bannon had stated that he intended to release documents “which were intended to present extrajudicial arguments about the merits of the pending case against him and the validity of the government’s decision to seek an indictment”. Federal prosecutors also drew attention to statements made by Mr. Bannon at a press conference following his first hearing, including “We will continue the crime on this matter.”

It’s unusual for Mr. Bannon and major news organizations to be on the same side on an issue. Like Mr Trump, Mr Bannon often humiliated established news media.

However, the coalition argued that it was in the public interest to publish the documents by Mr Bannon.

“The public has a great interest in the facts, circumstances and causes of the January 6 riot,” the coalition statement said. “Bannon was indicted in an investigation into the riot and demonstrated his desire to communicate with the press and public about the government’s lawsuit against him.”

The news of the legal summary was first daily mail.