I think it is slim. Am I wrong?
He ignored the summons. He tried to get the trial delayed to closer to mid term elections hoping for Repubs to regain control and then it would go away.
If/when he doesn’t show, can/will congress do anything? I think they will because they know their reputation is on the line but what can they do if he makes himself hard to find until after midterms?
It would be the DoJ, not congress, right? If he doesn’t show, then the DoJ can issue a warrant for his arrest and send the marshals to get him. I think, anyway - IANAL.
Wouldn’t it be the trial judge that issues the warrant?
In a moment of epic leopard face-eating, he’ll discover that one thing authoritarians really hate is when you defy their authority.
Oh please oh please oh please… 
Yep, a “bench warrant.” And good luck getting out on bail after failing to appear for trial.
I think the safe bet is that he shows up, the consequences for refusing are certain and harsh. (or he comes up with what he thinks is a good excuse. Something like “I got COVID” perhaps)
This won’t happen. It’s out of congress’s hands now.
If Congress withdraws the contempt charge, because they decide to change the committee to look at Hunter Biden’s laptop and no longer have to talk to Bannon, doesn’t it make this go away?
No. It’s out of congress’s hands now.
No. Congress, as the “victim” has no say in the prosecution at this point. Bannon either committed a crime or he didn’t. The jury will sort it out. But it’s past tense. Ending the hearings doesn’t fix what he allegedly did.
Exactly. And even if Bannon testifies for the Congressional committee in the future, that doesn’t relieve his culpability for his earlier refusal.
Thanks, all of you, for setting me straight!
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/14/politics/bannon-pretrial-hearing-delay-defense/index.html
A federal judge is keeping the door open for Steve Bannon to use a potential new defense argument where he could present his recent bid to testify for the House January 6 committee to the jury when he goes on trial on contempt of Congress charges next week for his failure to comply with a committee subpoena last year.
US District Judge Carl Nichols said at pretrial hearing Thursday that he is not deciding yet whether to let that evidence be admitted. But by not immediately shutting down Bannon’s efforts to present that evidence, Nichols kept the possibility open that Bannon might have an additional defense to put forward at next week’s trial.
I don’t understand how his supposed willingness to testify now is a defense for what he did then. Is that a defense written into the statute? There are elements to any given crime. If the prosecution can prove those elements, they win. At least, in theory. For which of those elements could this defense present a reasonable doubt?
Even his own lawyers know that’s not a defense.
“What’s the point in going to trial here if there are no defenses?” attorney David Schoen declared in court after Nichols wound up his rulings from the bench.
From this judge’s point of view, it may be easier to allow the defense and reject it as the tryer of fact than deny the defense and be subject to an appeal of the law. An appellate judge is less likely to accept an appeal based on a defense being unpersuasive than a defense being disallowed.
That is, “I considered that line of reasoning and rejected it as being inadequate” is more likely to stand than “I rejected even allowing that line of reasoning”.
The concept probably stems from civil contempt. Judges sometimes hold witnesses in custody until they come around and declare that they are now “willing” to testify. I think it’s called purging the contempt. As discussed, it doesn’t work that way for criminal cases.
75% chance he shows up.
25% chance he takes a trip.
10% he shows up
90% he has other plans
3% DOJ cares
97% nothing can be done
“Well,Your Honour, I know the prosecution has video of my client in the bank with a gun pointed at the teller, and audio of him demanding money, and video of him leaving with the money, but c’mon, there’s gotta be a defence there somewhere!”