MSNBC just broke a story just dropped by The Washington Post that, as soon as tomorrow, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon could come to an agreement, and appear in front of the J6 committee for a deposition.
As Baby Herman likes to say, This whole thing stinks like yesterday’s diapers! I can’t make any logical sense out of this. Even the WAPO’s headline is enigmatic. It reads; Trump could waive executive privilege for Steve Bannon to testify. Which makes no sense. First, Trump has no executive privilege to waive, since Bannon wasn’t an administration advisor that would qualify. And second, the SCOTUS has already ruled that executive privilege belongs to the current President, and not the former one.
I just can’t find the logic in Bannon’s motive here either. If Bannon is about to fold, that would be a first for him, since it’s something he never did with any of his shirts, or his pants either by the looks of it. But for the life of me, I can’t game out what his angle is.
Granted, tempus is fugiting, and quickly to the start of Bannon’s contempt of congress trial. But if Bannon is hoping to negotiate a deal to drop that charge in return for his cooperation, then he’s pissing up the wrong rop. Bannon needs to be negotiation with the DC US Attorney, not the J6 committee, it’s their case now. The committee can’t do anything for Bannon.
The only even remotely sensible reason I can come up with is this. As more and more devastating information comes out publicly about the inner workings of the Trump insurrection, Bannon might be starting to wonder what other damning testimony the committee has on his shenanigans in the War Room at the Willard hotel. I can see Bannon trying to craft a deal where he gets immunity in return for his testimony, ala Oliver North in the Iran-Contra Reagan scandal.
If so, then once again Bannon is pissing up the wrong rope. He should be talking to the DOJ, they’re the ones with the grand jury investigation, as well as his pending trial. And in an investigation as well run as the one Thompson and Cheney are running, I just don’t see them slicing the DOJ off at the knees on Bannon just to get him to testify.
My advice? Although the WAPO isn’t the Daily Onion, take this story with a cow lick sized grain of salt. I don’t see an inveterate con man like Bannon doing anything that doesn’t have a personal benefit to him. But I can’t see any sane reason for either the DOJ or the J6 committee to cut a deal with legal dead meat like good old Two Shirts. Unless it’s full immunity in return for Bannon’s testimony against Trump in a criminal trial? That might just make sense.
Even getting his testimony against Trump isn’t enough to give this human hazmat site immunity. He was in the “War Room”, he was involved w/ the planning. He knew there would be violence. No deals for anyone this involved. People on the periphery, who maybe knew of the plans and did nothing to warn us, maybe, but people directly involved, NO WAY.
Not only that, the committee has gotten so much good, verifiable information from multiple sources that they really don’t need to make a deal with Bannon. Almost anything he could say has already been said. He should’ve given his testimony when he was first subpoenaed by Congress, when a deal could’ve helped. Instead, he treated it like a joke & pulled a no-show. Now he’s at the mercy of the DOJ.
I agree that this whole thing stinks of soiled babywear and I cannot fathom what’s actually happening either, but we shall see. Meanwhile, admiring (?) the lead photo of your article, I have to wonder what condition Seedy Steve’s poor liver is in these days, to wreak such a complexion upon the fellow.