Steve Bannon's lawyers quit after he calls for beheading of Dr Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray

Bannon made the incendiary comments on his podcast “War Room: Pandemic”

Lawyers for former White House strategist Steve Bannon are reportedly calling it quits after their client called for the beheading of Dr Anthony Fauci and FBI director Christopher “as a warning”.

In a one-page letter, Mr Bannon’s lawyers asked a federal judge on Friday to postpone a hearing scheduled for Monday because they intend to withdraw from his case and so that Mr Bannon can retain new counsel.

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“On behalf of Defendant Stephen Bannon, we write respectfully to request an adjournment of the status conference currently scheduled for Monday, November 9 at 1:00 pm”, the letter reads. “Mr. Bannon is in the process of retaining new counsel, and Quinn Emanuel intends to move to withdraw”.

The letter goes on to say that Mr Bannon “respectfully requests that the status conference in this matter be adjourned for three weeks so that he may formally remain new counsel".

The lawyers’ request comes a day after Mr Bannon said on his podcast “War Room: Pandemic” that merely firing Dr Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray wouldn’t be sufficient.

“Now, I actually want to go a step farther, but I realise the president is a kind-hearted man and a good man. I'd actually like to go back to the old times of Tudor England, I'd put the heads on pikes, right, I'd put them at the two corners of the White House as a warning to federal bureaucrats”, Bannon said. “You either get with the programme or you're gone – time to stop playing games”.

The Twitter account of the podcast @WarRoomPandemic was suspended after the podcast went live on Thursday. 

Mr Bannon’s co-host Jack Maxey noted on the podcast that 250 years ago traitors used to be hanged, saying this week was the anniversary of the hanging of two Tories in Philadelphia who collaborated with the British during the American Revolution.  

Mr Bannon replied: “That’s how you won the revolution. No one wants to talk about it. The revolution wasn't some sort of garden party, right? It was a civil war.”

The comments have led to speculation online that Mr Bannon could have violated the conditions of his bail order after he was released on a $5 million bond, secured by $1.75 million in assets, on charges of fraud and money laundering. He has denied any wrongdoing.