(Bloomberg) -- The lawyer defending Steve Bannon against contempt charges over his refusal to cooperate with the Congressional Jan. 6 committee asked to withdraw from the case because he may be called as a trial witness.

Robert Costello made his request to US District Judge Carl Nichols in a motion filed Friday in federal court in Washington. The lawyer’s move comes just before Bannon’s trial is set to begin on July 18, but Costello noted that Nichols had yet to rule on an earlier request that he be allowed to testify for the defense about his interactions with the Jan. 6 panel and prosecutors.

“If the Court decides to prevent me from testifying, there will be no pathway to inform the Jury about the communications with the Select Committee or the three prosecutors in this case,” Costello said. He accused them of interfering with his attorney-client relationship with Bannon by attempting to access his phone records.

Bannon, a longtime Donald Trump adviser, was indicted in November on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with subpoenas from the House Jan. 6 committee seeking his testimony and production of documents. 

He has previously argued that he relied in good faith on Costello’s advice concerning the subpoenas, but Nichols ruled in April that he could not make that case to the jury. Bannon has more recently sought to delay his trial, arguing that the ongoing televised Jan. 6 committee hearings could prevent him from getting a fair trial.

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