Democrats were doing a happy dance Friday afternoon after news that former Donald Trump aide Steve Bannon had been convicted of “contempt of Congress.” He faces two years in prison and, the way things are going for conservatives in D.C., is likely to have the book thrown at him, just like the J6 protesters.
Bannon was charged with two counts of contempt in 2021 for ignoring subpoenas to testify and failing to turn over White House documents to the January 6 special committee, which itself is a contemptible caricature of what a committee should be and do.
The J6 committee, which hosted its last Hollywood-produced TV summer series show on Thursday night, is a one-sided affair comprised of members who loathe Donald Trump and/or were complicit in furthering lies about the Trump Russia collusion hoax. Members of the committee were hand-picked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — even the two nominal GOP members, Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney — after she rejected all of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s choices. It’s an open question whether the committee is legally constituted.
Related: Eight Key Questions the January 6 Committee Will Not Answer and One Nancy Pelosi Can’t Avoid
The committee allows no exculpatory evidence or cross examination of its one-sided witnesses. With the GOP left off the committee, there’s no other view of the evidence presented at its hearings.
Bannon says he acted on the advice of his attorney. He was not allowed to put on this defense during his trial.
“Bannon’s attorneys took issue with the judge’s pretrial rulings, among them, one that would prevent Bannon from saying he was just following the advice of counsel and that he believed executive privilege applied to his decision not to testify before the committee,” according to CBS News. “The defense was also not allowed to call members of the House Jan. 6 committee as witnesses, which they said put them at a disadvantage because they were unable to probe the reasoning behind the subpoena and its deadlines.”
The prosecutor and her star witness, J6 Committee Chief Counsel Kristin Amerling, belonged to the same book club. They contend they aren’t friends. Such is Washington, D.C.’s cozy world. Witness the Sussmann trial.
Bannon is their star scalp. He has been outspoken in his contempt for the J6 Committee.
This Bannon vid goes hard pic.twitter.com/YCTTlQ2KMW
— No Cap Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) July 22, 2022
The committee’s next victim is former Trump domestic chief Peter Navarro, who was publicly arrested at Nashville Airport and put in handcuffs and leg shackles for failing to do the bidding of the committee.
Bannon was tried in front of a one-sided jury as well. The District of Columbia is comprised of Democrats, 94% of whom voted for Joe Biden. There is little to no justice
The Washington, D.C., jury deliberated for about three hours before finding the former Trump aide guilty.
Bannon fought for executive privilege through most of his legal battle with the J6 Committee and then did an about-face right before the trial brought by the Justice Department, which is working closely with the partisan committee.
There hasn’t been a person charged with contempt of congress since 1983. As Attorney General, Eric Holder was cited but not indicted for ignoring a Congressional committee’s investigation into his oversight of the gun-running program known as Fast and Furious. One of those guns was used to murder a border patrol agent. Both Obama-era CIA chief John Brennan and DNI James Clapper lied to Congress about spying but neither was indicted.
The committee, with the aid of the Justice Department, is not just doing Hollywood-produced dog and pony shows on TV; it is working to jail political prisoners now.
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