Trump FBI raid documents about Mar-a-Lago search unsealed

FBI agents found four dozen empty document folders marked "CLASSIFIED" during their raid last month of former President Donald Trump's residence at his Mar-a-Lago club, a newly unsealed court file revealed Friday. Agents found 43 of those empty folders marked classified in Trump's office, according to the Department of Justice's inventory of the seized items, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The remaining five empty folders with that marking were found in containers in a storage room. The FBI also found another 42 empty folders marked "Return to Staff Secretary/Miliary [sic] Aide," during the Aug. 8 raid, which was authorized to search for government documents removed from the White House when Trump left office in Jan. 2021, the filing said.

Documents seized by FBI from Mar-a-Lago Source: Department of Justice

Twenty-eight of those empty folders were found in Trump's office, while another 14 were in a storage room elsewhere, the document shows. And FBI agents found more than 10,000 government documents and photographs without classification markings, the filing shows. Among those were hundreds of photos and news articles, along with gifts, clothing, and books. The bombshell revelations raise the prospect that the DOJ has not yet recovered the documents that would have been in the empty folders. The DOJ is investigating possible crimes related to the removal of those and other government documents from the White House when Trump left office in Jan. 2021. By law, such records must be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration.

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It was signed by Miami U.S. Attorney Juan Gonzalez, and Jay Bratt, the chief of the counterintelligence and export control section of the national security division of the Justice Department. "The seized materials will continue to be used to further the government's investigation, and the investigative team will continue to use and evaluate the seized materials as it takes further investigative steps, such as through additional interviews and grand jury practice," that notice says. "It is important to note, 'review' of the seized materials is not a single investigative step but an ongoing process in this active criminal investigation," the document says. Trump's spokesman in a series of tweets about the inventory of the seized items again criticized the raid. "The new 'detailed' inventory list only further proves that this unprecedented and unnecessary raid of President Trump's home was not some surgical, confined search and retrieval that the Biden administration claims, it was a SMASH AND GRAB," wrote the spokesman, Taylor Budowich. "These document disputes should be resolved under the Presidential Records Act, which requires cooperation and negotiation by NARA [National Archives and Records Administration], not an armed FBI raid," Budowich added.

Trump in a lawsuit filed in late August asked Cannon to appoint an independent watchdog, known as a special master, to review the items seized in the search before the DOJ is allowed to continue using the documents in the investigation. Trump's lawyers have said a special master could check to see if some documents would be prohibited from being used in the probe because they are protected by either attorney-client privilege or executive privilege. The DOJ has opposed the appointment of a special master, saying that it would delay the investigation, and that Trump does not own the documents. Cannon, during a court hearing in Florida on that dispute Thursday, said she will issue a ruling on the special master request in "due course."

Cannon, a Trump appointee, previously shared her "preliminary intent" to grant Trump's request for a special master. The judge suggested in Thursday's hearing that she is still considering that appointment, news outlets reported.

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Jerry Nadler beats Carolyn Maloney in NY House Democratic primary

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., Democratic candidate for New Yorks 12th Congressional District, campaigns at the 79th St. Greenmarket on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, on Sunday, August 21, 2022. Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

Rep. Jerry Nadler will defeat his colleague Rep. Carolyn Maloney in a vicious House primary that locked the longtime New York Democrats in a battle for the heart of Manhattan, NBC News projected. The two lawmakers were pitted against each other after a redrawn district map spurred them to compete for a single seat in Congress. Nadler, 75, and Maloney, 76, have represented adjacent chunks of the island for about three decades. Both hold powerful seats in Congress: Nadler chairs the House Judiciary Committee, while Maloney leads the House Oversight Committee. Nadler's congressional district had included the Upper West Side, while Maloney's covered much of the eastern half of Manhattan. But their separate districts were combined in May, the result of a messy and highly controversial redistricting process. Both Nadler and Maloney announced they would run for the newly formed 12th Congressional District. Suraj Patel, who has challenged Maloney in two previous primary elections, was also on the ballot. Despite their long history, the primary fight between Nadler and Maloney was anything but neighborly. "He said, 'Step aside, I'm running.' And I said, 'Well, I'm running too. I'm not leaving,'" Maloney said in a New York Magazine profile of the race. "He said, 'I'm gonna win.' I said, 'I'm gonna win.' We haven't spoken since," she said. Maloney has also fanned rumors that Nadler won't serve out his full term if elected and that he's senile and unfit for office — charges Nadler's campaign has denied. Nadler has highlighted the differences in their voting records, saying Maloney has been "wrong on very major issues" including her "cowardly" vote for the Patriot Act, New York Magazine reported. Nadler has also made his Jewish faith a central part of his pitch to voters. Maloney, meanwhile, has sought to center her experiences as a woman in politics while touting her record on social issues — including abortion, a galvanizing topic in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Roe v. Wade. She has been endorsed by famed attorney and feminist activist Gloria Steinem. "You cannot send a man to do a woman's job," Maloney said in a recent television ad.

Correction: This report has been updated to correctly describe the area of Maloney's former congressional district.

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Judge orders Trump to give details about Mar-a-Lago warrant lawsuit

An aerial view of former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home after Trump said that FBI agents raided it, in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. August 15, 2022. Marco Bello | Reuters

A federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump ordered him Tuesday to answer several key questions about his new lawsuit related to the FBI raid on his Florida home, including why her court should be the one hearing the case and to more precisely explain what he wants her to do. Judge Aileen Cannon also ordered Trump to tell her how his suit affects another pending case involving the same search warrant before a federal magistrate judge in the same court, and whether the Department of Justice has been served with his lawsuit yet. Cannon also wants to know if Trump is seeking any injunctions related to material seized in the raid until the lawsuit is resolved. Cannon's order came a day after Trump filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, asking her to appoint a so-called special master to review documents seized Aug. 8 in the FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago resort residence in Palm Beach.

The judge, whom Trump appointed to that court in 2020, gave him and his lawyers until Friday to answer her questions. Trump wants to block the DOJ from examining the seized documents until a special master looks at them. The step is typically taken when there is a chance that some evidence should be withheld from prosecutors because of various legal privileges. The DOJ is conducting a criminal investigation related to the documents being removed from the White House when Trump left office in January 2021. By law, presidential records are required to be turned over to the National Archives. A warrant authorizing the FBI's search-and-seizure operation at Mar-a-Lago shows that the DOJ is probing potential violations of laws related to espionage and obstruction of justice. Multiple sets of documents marked top secret were seized in the raid. Trump claims the raid was illegal and motivated by a desire to harm his chances of regaining the White House if he decides to run again.

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Cannon in her order Tuesday wrote: "The Court is in receipt of Plaintiff's Motion for Judicial Oversight and Additional Relief." "To facilitate appropriate resolution, on or before August 26, 2022, Plaintiff shall file a supplement to the Motion further elaborating on the following: (1) the asserted basis for the exercise of this Court's jurisdiction, whether legal, equitable/anomalous, or both; (2) the framework applicable to the exercise of such jurisdiction;" Cannon wrote. The judge also told Trump's team to detail "the precise relief sought, including any request for injunctive relief pending resolution of the Motion; (4) the effect, if any, of the proceeding before Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart; and (5) the status of Plaintiff's efforts to perfect service on Defendant." Reinhart signed the warrant authorizing the raid. He is considering requests by media outlets to unseal an affidavit that the DOJ filed, which laid out the need for the search and events leading up to it. Earlier Tuesday, the National Archives posted online a letter that said classified material was found in boxes that Trump turned over to that agency in January.

The material, which spans 700 pages, includes ones related to top secret, sensitive compartmented information and special access programs, the National Archives letter said.

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Affidavit used in search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago to be partially unsealed, judge says

A federal judge said that parts of the affidavit used to obtain a search warrant for former President Donald Trump's resort home Mar-a-Lago can be unsealed, NBC News reported Thursday.

The decision from U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart came after the Department of Justice asked him not to unseal the highly sensitive document, which details the government's view that it had probable cause to believe the search of Mar-a-Lago would turn up evidence of illegality.

The government's investigation into the records seized from Trump's Palm Beach, Florida, residence is still in its "early stages," argued Jay Bratt, head of a DOJ counterintelligence team, NBC reported.

The affidavit contains "substantial grand jury" information in a case with "national security overtones," Bratt reportedly said in the hearing.

Reinhart disagreed, saying he believed "there are portions of it that can be unsealed."

An aerial view of former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home after Trump said that FBI agents raided it, in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. August 15, 2022.

Marco Bello | Reuters

In a written order later Thursday, Reinhart wrote, "As I ruled from the bench at the conclusion of the hearing, I find that on the present record the Government has not met its burden of showing that the entire affidavit should remain sealed."

The judge gave the government a week to file proposed redactions to the affidavit.

The prosecutors had previously urged the court to reject calls from media outlets and other entities to disclose the affidavit, which supported the search warrant used by FBI agents in the Aug. 8 raid on Mar-a-Lago.

Trump has publicly called for the affidavit to be released without redactions, though his lawyers have not yet filed a motion asking the judge to do so.

The former president "has made his view clear that the American people should be permitted to see the unredacted affidavit related to the raid and break-in of his home," his spokesman Taylor Budowich said on Twitter after the hearing. His tweets praised Reinhart for rejecting "the DOJ's cynical attempt to hide the whole affidavit from Americans," but insisted that "no redactions should be necessary."

The search warrant itself had been publicly released with the DOJ's approval last week. That document and attachments indicated that the agents were looking for materials related to three criminal statutes, one of which was part of the Espionage Act.

Attorney General Merrick Garland, who said he personally approved the warrant, supported its disclosure in light of the "substantial public interest in this matter."

But the affidavit "presents a very different set of considerations," federal prosecutors wrote in a court filing Monday.

The still-sealed document contains "critically important and detailed investigative facts" about witnesses and other "highly sensitive information" related to the ongoing criminal probe, which "implicates national security," the prosecutors wrote.

If disclosed, the affidavit would be "highly likely to compromise future investigative steps," said the filing, which was signed by Bratt, the head of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the DOJ's National Security Division.

The current criminal investigation stems from a probe of government records that were transferred to Mar-a-Lago instead of the National Archives after Trump left office in 2021.

FBI agents sought all records and other evidence "illegally possessed" in violation of three criminal statutes, according to the search warrant and property receipt released last week. The agents seized 20 boxes of items and other materials, including multiple sets of documents marked top secret and classified, the property receipt showed.

None of the three statutes — Title 18 of the United States Code, Sections 793, 1519 and 2071 — hinge on whether the documents in question were classified.

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Justice Department asks to unseal Trump raid search warrant

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department asked a federal judge Thursday to unseal a search warrant that was used by FBI agents to raid the Florida home of former President Donald Trump three days earlier.

That request came after days of pressure by Republican lawmakers and other allies of Trump on the Justice Department to explain why it authorized what is believed to be the first-ever search of a former president's residence in connection with a criminal investigation.

The Justice Department is seeking to unseal just the warrant and an inventory of items seized by the FBI during the search of Trump's home at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach.

But the department is not asking the judge to unseal the affidavit of probable cause, which would detail how authorities believe a crime was likely committed and why there would be evidence of that crime in the location targeted in the search.

However, the warrant itself is likely to list the criminal statutes related to the search.

Later Thursday, a group of media companies, including NBC News, The Washington Post and CNN, filed a motion in to unseal all court records related to warrant, including "all probable cause affidavits filed in support of the search warrant." NBC News is a division of NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.

"The Media Intervenors are news organizations and are entitled, as members of the public, to view judicial records," the filing said. "The tremendous public interest in these records in particular outweighs any purported interest in keeping them secret."

Read the Justice Department's motion to unseal the warrant here.

The Justice Department is investigating Trump for the removal of documents from the White House, and possible violations of classified information laws because of the nature of some of those documents.

"The department filed the motion to make public the warrant and receipt in light of the former president's public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances, and the substantial public interest in this matter," Garland said at a surprise press conference.

The department's motion was lodged in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, where Mar-a-Lago is located. It was signed by Jay Bratt, chief of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the National Security Division of the Justice Department.

Former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a rally at the I-80 Speedway on May 01, 2022 in Greenwood, Nebraska.

Scott Olson | Getty Images

Garland at the press conference said, "I personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter."

"The department does not take such a decision lightly," he said. "Where possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search, and to narrowly scope any search that is undertaken."

Garland also condemned what he called "recent unfounded attacks on the professionalism of the FBI and Justice Department agents and prosecutors" in connection with the search and related investigation.

"I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked," he said.

Trump's lawyer and his spokeswoman did not immediately respond when asked to comment on Garland's announcement, and if Trump will oppose the motion to unseal.

Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart later Thursday ordered the Justice Department to speak with Trump's lawyers and learn whether they will oppose the motion. Reinhart directed the Justice Department to inform him by 3 p.m. Friday of Trump's answer.

Trump in a post on his social media site after the press conference wrote that before the raid his attorneys and representatives "were cooperating fully" with the Justice Department, and "very good relationships had been established."

"The government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it," Trump wrote.

"They asked us to put an additional lock on a certain area — DONE! Everything was fine, better than that of most previous Presidents, and then, out of nowhere and with no warning, Mar-a-Lago was raided at 6:30 in the morning, by VERY large numbers of agents and even 'safecrackers.' They got way ahead of themselves. Crazy."

Trump and his allies have claimed the Justice Department and Garland, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, searched Trump's residence to hurt the former president politically.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks about the FBI's search warrant served at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida during a statement at the U.S. Justice Department in Washington, U.S., August 11, 2022.

Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

FBI agents seized about a dozen boxes from Mar-a-Lago, according to Trump's lawyer.

That lawyer said agents left a copy of the search warrant, which indicated they are investigating possible violations of laws related to the Presidential Records Act and the handling of classified material.

A senior White House official told NBC News that they were unaware of what Garland would say before he took the podium at the Justice Department.

"We have had no notice that he was giving remarks and no briefing on the content of them," the official said.

The Justice Department, and Garland, have a longstanding policy about not commenting on criminal investigations before charges are filed.

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UN Secretary General urges governments to tax 'immoral' oil profits

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks during the 2022 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations in New York City on August 1, 2022.

Ed Jones | AFP | Getty Images

WASHINGTON — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged governments on Wednesday to tax excessive oil and gas profits as the world grapples with an energy crisis triggered in part, by Russia's war in Ukraine.

"It is immoral for oil and gas companies to be making record profits from this energy crisis on the backs of the poorest people and communities," Guterres said in a speech before the international forum.

He added that the funds, which equate to $100 billion in the first quarter of this year should instead be used to support vulnerable communities.

"This grotesque greed is punishing the poorest and most vulnerable people while destroying our only home," Guterres said, calling for governments to also address the mounting climate crisis.

He also urged governments to ramp up and diversify supply chains for raw materials and renewable energy technologies while eliminating bureaucratic red tape around the energy transition.

"Every country is part of this energy crisis," Guterres said.

He also said that the consequences of the Kremlin's war have extended beyond a budding energy crisis and have also exacerbated global food insecurity and crippling debt around the world, but specifically in developing nations.

"Many developing countries drowning in debt, without access to finance and struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic could go over the brink, Guterres warned. "We are already seeing the warning signs of a wave of economic, social and political upheaval that would leave no country untouched," he added.

The U.N. chief announced the establishment of the Global Crisis Response Group aimed at coordinating global solutions to the triple crisis of food, energy and finance.

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Guterres' comments come as the first vessel carrying Ukrainian agricultural goods departs from the Black Sea, a significant step in addressing the mounting food crisis provoked by Russia's naval blockade of Ukrainian ports sprinkled along the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

In July, representatives from the U.N., Turkey, Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement to reopen three Ukrainian ports, an apparent breakthrough as the Kremlin's war on its ex-Soviet neighbor marched into its fifth month.

Less than 24 hours after the deal was signed though, Russian missiles rained down on Odesa, Ukraine's largest port. World leaders swiftly condemned the Kremlin's missile strike on Odesa, another anxious turn in fruitless efforts to mitigate a mounting global food crisis.

Ukraine's infrastructure minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, told NBC News on Monday that the vessel is expected to reach Tripoli, Lebanon in two days.

Kubrakov also said that 16 ships are ready to go, but that only three vessels will leave the port each day for the next two weeks. He added that in the next two months, Ukraine hopes to export up to 3 million tons of grain and other agricultural goods by sea per month.

Before Russia's invasion, Ukraine exported 5 million to 7 million tons per month.

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Biden reveals drone strike killed al-Qaeda leader al-Zawahiri, warns terrorists we will ‘take you out’

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Monday evening that the U.S. conducted a drone strike that killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan, a revelation expected to degrade the terror group's ability to operate.

"He carved a trail of murder and violence against American citizens, American servicemembers, American diplomats and American interests," Biden said of the pre-dawn precision strike that killed al-Zawahiri.

"We made it clear again tonight that no matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide if you are a threat to our people the United States will find you and take you out," Biden added.

Two people briefed on the strike confirmed to NBC News that the strike that killed al-Zawahiri was conducted by the CIA.

A senior Biden administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to share details of the strike, said U.S. intelligence analysts identified al-Zawahiri's location earlier this year.

The official said the U.S. watched al-Zawahiri's movements for months and determined that he was living in a safe house in Kabul with his family.

"We identified al-Zawahiri on multiple occasions for sustained periods of time on the balcony where he was ultimately struck," the official said.

"Al-Zawahiri's family members were present in other parts of the safe house at the time of the strike and were purposely not targeted and were unarmed. We have no indication that civilians were harmed in this strike," the official added.

The official said Biden received his final intelligence briefing on the matter on July 25 before approving the strike which involved an unmanned aerial vehicle and two Hellfire missiles.

Al-Zawahiri, 71, a physician and founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad before ascending to the top ranks in the al-Qaeda network, was one of the architects behind the devastating Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

In the weeks that followed the Sept. 11 attacks, the Taliban provided sanctuary to al-Qaeda while America mobilized for what would become its longest war.

Al-Zawahiri succeeded Osama bin Laden as the head of al-Qaeda in 2011.

Al-Zawahiri was previously indicted by the U.S. government for his alleged role in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya.

The State Department had previously offered a reward of up to $25 million for information leading to his apprehension.

Sunday's drone strike is the first known CIA counterterrorism operation since Kabul fell to the Taliban last year. The senior administration official said that the U.S. did not coordinate the strike or give notice to the Taliban.

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China competitiveness and chip bill passes House, goes to Biden

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) holds her weekly news conference with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 14, 2022.

Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters

The House on Thursday passed bipartisan legislation to boost U.S. competitiveness with China by allocating billions of dollars toward domestic semiconductor manufacturing and science research.

The bill passed 243-187, with no Democrats voting against the bill. Twenty-five Republicans voted for the legislation, even after a last-minute push by GOP leaders to oppose it.

The bill, which passed the Senate on Wednesday, now heads to the White House for President Joe Biden to sign into law.

Lawmakers pushed to quickly approve the package before they depart Washington, D.C., for the August recess. But the final vote came after years of wrangling on Capitol Hill, with the legislation taking numerous forms, and names, in both chambers of Congress.

The ultimate version, known as the Chips and Science Act, includes more than $52 billion for U.S. companies producing computer chips, as well as billions more in tax credits to encourage investment in chip manufacturing. It also provides tens of billions of dollars to fund scientific research, and to spur the innovation and development of other U.S. technologies.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the bill "a major victory for American families and the American economy."

But House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., urged his colleagues to "reject this deeply flawed bill" and "start from scratch" in floor remarks before the vote.

The Senate passed the bill Wednesday in a 64-33 vote, drawing support from 17 Republicans. Among those yea votes was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who previously warned that Republicans would not back the China competition bill if Democrats continued to pursue an unrelated reconciliation package.

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Hours after Wednesday's bipartisan Senate vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., revealed that they have struck a deal on a sweeping reconciliation bill. They hope to pass that package next week with just a simple majority in the Senate, which is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats with Vice President Kamala Harris casting any tiebreaking votes.

Shortly after that deal was announced, House Republican leaders urged their members to vote down the Chips and Science Act. They argued against giving multibillion-dollar subsidies to chipmakers at a time of historically high inflation, while also noting the timing of the Democrats' reconciliation deal.

"The partisan Democrat agenda has given us record inflation, and now they are poised to send our country into a crushing recession," the office of House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., said in a memo Wednesday night.

Some Republicans who opposed the bill said it lacked "guardrails" to prevent any of the funding from winding up in China's hands. Other critics have argued that the U.S. would have to spend many billions more to have a real chance at competing with the world's leading chipmakers.

But the bill's advocates say it is vital to America's economy and national security to build more chips, which are increasingly critical components in a vast array of products including consumer electronics, automobiles, health-care equipment and weapons systems.

The chips have been in short supply during the Covid-19 pandemic. Factory shutdowns at the beginning of the outbreak sidelined chip production in Asia while consumer demand for autos and upgraded home electronics that need the chips surged during the lockdowns. The U.S. share of global chip production also has fallen sharply in recent decades, while China and other nations have invested heavily in the industry.

The U.S. also makes few of the most advanced types of semiconductors, which are largely produced in Taiwan, the epicenter of rising political tensions with China.

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Much modern warfare requires sophisticated semiconductors — each Javelin missile launching system contains hundreds, for instance — leading U.S. defense officials to worry about the nation's reliance on foreign producers for its chip supply.

Biden has also blamed the chip shortage for the sky-high inflation that has dogged his presidency. A lack of chips available for new-car manufacturing has been linked to soaring prices for used cars, which are pushing inflation higher.

"America invented the semiconductor. It's time to bring it home," Biden said this week.

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Steven Bannon jurors reach verdict in Trump aide contempt trial

Former U.S. President Donald Trump's White House chief strategist Steve Bannon arrives following his trial on contempt of Congress charges for his refusal to cooperate with the U.S. House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S., July 22, 2022. 

Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

A federal court jury reached a verdict Friday in the trial of Steve Bannon, the former top Trump White House aide who is charged with criminal contempt of Congress.

The verdict is expected to be announced shortly in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

Bannon is accused of willfully failing to comply with subpoenas issued by the House select committee that is investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol by a mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump.

He faces a minimum criminal sentence of 30 days in jail if convicted of two counts of contempt.

Prosecutor Molly Gaston told jurors in her closing arguments that Bannon "chose allegiance to Donald Trump over compliance with the law."

"When it really comes down to it, he did not want to recognize Congress' authority or play by the government's rules," Gaston said. "Our government only works if people show up. It only works if people play by the rules. And it only works if people are held accountable when they do not."

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Bannon's lawyers did not present a defense during the trial, which began Monday with jury selection.

His attorneys were hamstrung by pretrial rulings by the judge in the case, who severely limited the evidence they could present at trial.

During his own closing arguments Friday, Bannon's lawyer Evan Corcoran tried to suggest that Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who is chair of the Jan. 6 committee, did not sign a subpoena for Bannon, NBC reported. Corcoran dropped that line of argument after the prosecution objected.

Corcoran also asked jurors to set aside memories of Jan. 6 in their deliberations.

"None of us will soon forget January 6, 2021," Corcoran said. "It's part of our collective memory. But there's no evidence in this case that Steve Bannon was involved at all. For purposes of this case we have to put out of our thoughts January 6."

Jurors began their deliberations at just before 11:40 a.m. ET, after the closing arguments concluded.

This is breaking news. Check back for updates.

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