Steve Bannon Asks to Replace Lawyers Again Ahead of February Criminal Trial

With 43 days left before the start of Stephen K. Bannon’s trial in Manhattan, he asked a judge on Monday to be allowed to replace his lawyers for a second time, a move that could delay the trial. Again.

Mr. Bannon, who is charged with defrauding contributors who paid for the construction of a southern border wall, first replaced his defense team in 2023 after one of his lawyers said there had been “a complete breakdown in communication.”

In November, the New York judge overseeing the trial, April A. Newbauer, pushed back its start date from December to February, saying “we’re not changing it again.”

But on Monday, the lawyer that Mr. Bannon now wants to represent him, Arthur Aidala, said that he did not have enough time to adequately prepare for the Feb. 25 trial because there was so much information “to swallow and process.”

“We are ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work,” he told the judge. “I just don’t have, or we, I should say, we don’t have, enough information.”

Justice Newbauer ordered Mr. Bannon to return to court on Jan. 22 for the parties to make their arguments about his request.

Mr. Bannon, an influential right-wing media figure, was a staple in Donald J. Trump’s orbit for years — he was an architect of Mr. Trump’s 2016 election victory and served as a White House strategist. In recent years, he has been embroiled in a multitude of controversies.

In October, Mr. Bannon was released from prison after serving four months on contempt charges for refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena for information about the events of Jan. 6, 2021. This week, he catapulted back into the news after rebuking Elon Musk, the newest star in the president-elect’s team, calling him a “truly evil person.”

His work in Mr. Trump’s first administration led to Mr. Bannon’s legal troubles in New York. And his attempts to delay his case in Manhattan bear a resemblance to Mr. Trump’s own methods of stalling prosecutions.

The allegations against Mr. Bannon stem from his involvement with a group called We Build the Wall, which raised more than $25 million from donors to help construct a barrier between the United States and Mexico, Mr. Trump’s signature policy initiative during his first term.

Mr. Bannon played a senior role in the group, which promised donors that their contributions would be used only to build the barrier. However, prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office have said that was a lie, and have accused Mr. Bannon with taking part in a conspiracy to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars into the pockets of the group’s officers.

Mr. Bannon faced similar federal charges, and several co-conspirators went to prison. But Mr. Trump pardoned Mr. Bannon during his final hours in office in 2021, when the president wiped away the convictions and prison sentences of a roster of politicians and business executives.

Last year, lawyers who helped Mr. Bannon secure his pardon won a judgment against him for nearly $500,000 in unpaid legal fees.

Mr. Trump cannot pardon Mr. Bannon on state charges, so New York’s case against him has chugged along.

Mr. Aidala, whom Mr. Bannon now wants to represent him, is a ubiquitous figure in New York’s criminal courtrooms who is as comfortable before a judge as he is before the press — like many of his clients. His roster includes Rudolph W. Giuliani, Harvey Weinstein and a former top aide to Mayor Eric Adams.

On Monday, Mr. Aidala said Mr. Bannon approached his law firm in December, but he declined to represent Mr. Bannon because of another trial scheduled for January. His firm then left that case for unrelated reasons, making him available for Mr. Bannon, he said.

Another complication, according to Mr. Aidala, is that in the spring he is scheduled to represent Mr. Weinstein on sex crimes charges. And Mr. Weinstein has asked for his trial to be moved up, which could interfere with the start of Mr. Bannon’s case, Mr. Aidala told the judge.

“I don’t want you to think anyone is trying to play any games or do any slick lawyering,” Mr. Aidala said. “I told you everything that’s a factual basis for where we are here today.”

Justice Newbauer said she was concerned that replacing the law firm that had been driving the case might result in “starting from scratch.”

Prosecutors also resisted the request. Jeffrey Levinson, an assistant district attorney, told the judge that they were “indifferent as to who represents Mr. Bannon, as long as the case goes to trial as scheduled.”

“He is clearly trying to make a substitution of counsel for the purpose of delay,” Mr. Levinson said.