Celebrate, celebrate, dance to the music. — Three Dog Night
Say what you will about Merrick Garland and his delaying of taking this action, I think the timing is drop dead perfect. Bennie Thompson served subpoenas on ten other allies of Trump on Monday and just this morning Mark Meadows flipped the bird at the January 6 Committee by skipping his deposition, the rationale being that Trump’s looney executive privilege arguments had to be heard in the court on November 30 first. By taking this action today, Garland has made it clear that this is a no-bullshit situation and the law is going to be enforced. Mother Jones:
The Department of Justice charged former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon on two counts of contempt of Congress on Friday afternoon, after he refused to appear for a deposition or comply with a House subpoena for documents relating to the January 6 attack on the Capitol. […]
“Since my first day in office, I have promised Justice Department employees that together we would show the American people by word and deed that the department adheres to the rule of law, follows the facts and the law and pursues equal justice under the law,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement accompanying the news. “Today’s charges reflect the department’s steadfast commitment to these principles.”
The indictment is a big boost for the select committee investigation. It is likely to deter other officials the panel wants to question from refusing to cooperate at all. While some witnesses are already cooperating with the committee, high level former Trump aides have followed Bannon in refusing to cooperate. On Friday, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows failed to appear for a deposition the committee had instructed him to attend, because his lawyer said Trump had instructed him not to cooperate.
“It now appears the courts will have to resolve this conflict,” the lawyer said.
The select committee threatened earlier on Friday to hold Meadows in contempt. Bannon’s indictment may cause Meadows and other people who have been subpoenaed, like former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Trump lawyer John Eastman, author of memos arguing that Vice President Mike Pence could declare Biden’s electoral votes invalid, to cooperate.
And just when Bannon was having so much fun talking about sedition and about the mythical decertification, an exotic creature which exists only in the pages of MAGA fan fiction and nowhere in the constitution or election law.
As a federal judge is signing his arrest warrant, Steve Bannon is calling for sedition today. Karma. pic.twitter.com/RPO9L0dw1U
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) November 12, 2021
It’s going to be a hot time in right-wingnuttia tonight. Mike Lindell will be tearing sackcloth pillow cases and covering himself in ashes.
DOJ doesn’t move on ANYBODY unless they know that there is no escape for their quarry. THAT’S why it took so long. Between this and state charges, Bannon is about to go through some things, especially money in the form of lawyer fees.
Looking forward to saying “I told you so” to every naysayer who never thought the Trump gang WASN’T going down.
The gang hasn’t gone anywhere. Let’s get past 2022 or all of this is meaningless. Good start that should have started with Trump in 2000’s. If they don’t keep the pedal to the metal & put these people in jail, then we lose in 2022. It’s that simple. The faith in government slides into the sea because it was a facade to begin with. Not to mention how’s the law gonna look if these two clear murder cases let the white men kill with impunity & walk? Goodbye black vote? Same old same old. White men talking about high ideals without the moral courage or selflessness to bring them about. Only white people believe in justice. Black folk know better. They need convincing. One inconvenienced white man paying pennies on his stolen millions won’t do it. There are thousands of black boys sitting in jail for laws that can’t be justified on any level, & they were put there swiftly with shoddy public defenders. With that criminal record they will continued to get screwed. Oh, & no one is offering a book deal or podcast. Wake me when Trump is in jail, otherwise this celebration seems premature.
The part I find both most interesting and encouraging is that prosecutors asked for indictments on two separate charges. I honestly thought that maybe, someday they’d get around to obtaining one for failure to appear. Nope. They decided to send a clear message (and a less obvious one I’ll get to) by hitting him with formal charges for failing to turn over documents. As you say it’s a twofer and they are letting him know they aren’t playing games and HE is about to have to “play” in THEIR house (DC federal court) where he doesn’t get to make any rules, or decide which ones he feels like following if he wants to remain out on bail. Federal judges in DC are increasingly indicating they are done with all the fucking around. Bannon can afford good lawyers and I suspect they are having a very serious chat with him right now. Trump can’t pardon his ass out of trouble on this one, AND that pardon he begged for and accepted will be used against him in court because there is precedent from SCOTUS (and it’s been accepted law since the 19t century) that acceptance of a pardon means accepting guilt for the crime(s). That can be used against Bannon in both bail proceedings and more importantly during sentencing. Even better, other crimes for which he wasn’t charged but for which there is evidence that would be admissible in a trial can be used against him in sentencing! I think it’s pretty clear that prosecutors with Garland’s blessing have started out by playing hardball and they ain’t gonna stop.
I mentioned a more subtle message being sent. DOJ is sending a signal to the appellate courts (including SCOTUS) that this EP stuff Bannon and others are relying on doesn’t pass muster. They are going to push the issue and that might move it up the appellate process a lot faster. Even SCOTUS might be forced to weigh in sometime next year before the end of the current term which leaves time for a trial to start.
It occurs to me that Bannon might be setting up his retirement by going to prison, writing his memoirs or a rant, using his advance to retain a lawyer and then pay with the proceeds. He may have to stay there in prison until he finds a new mark.