If You Blinked, You Missed It

Steve Bannon was found guilty of contempt of Congress late last week.

It took forever to start the trial, but it only took a couple of days to end it.  The Justice Department had an airtight case, and the defense had no case at all.  Bannon had promised to "go medieval" on the prosecution - whatever that means - but the iron maiden never came out.   

Bannon plans to appeal his conviction, but he's likely to lose in an even quicker trial.   

Sentencing - which could be two successive one-year prison terms - is currently scheduled for October 21.  Uh, maybe they could delay the sentencing until, say November 7?  That way, if Bannon does get two successive one-year prison terms, he'll be in jail until just after the 2024 presidential election is over.

And when he does get out after two years, he'll have lost his right to vote.

Oh, the irony! 😃

Bannon Slammed

The January 6 select committee means business.  And the House of Representatives this past week ratified some of the committee's really mean business when it voted to hold the really mean Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress for refusing to honor a congressional subpoena and testify before the January 6 select committee. 

Bannon will fight this, of course, citing executive and attorney-client privilege for his counsel to Trump, even though Trump is no longer President and Bannon is not an attorney and was not a White House staff member in early January 2021.  In the meantime, he loves the attention he's getting, convinced, like Trump himself and the many obnoxious celebrities that the equally obnoxious Trump emulated, that any press - even bad press - is good press.  And if he goes to jail for contempt of Congress, he'll likely paint  himself as martyr to the cause to secure a white-supremacist America for all time, trying every trick except a hunger strike to publicize his plight.

Except that Bannon could go to jail for more than just contempt of Congress.  Representative Liz Cheney, the ranking Republican on the January 6 select committee, has suggested that Bannon might have planned the insurrection or at least have been instrumental in the planning, and she wouldn't make that charge if she didn't think it was legitimate.  And the committee is working with other witnesses behind the scenes who could corroborate such an accusation.

But first comes the contempt of Congress charge.  Now it's up to Attorney General Merrick Garland to decide on whether to follow up on Congress's act.