The timing couldn’t have been any stranger or ironic. All of those people who have been bitching and moaning about Merrick Garland dragging his heels over the Bannon contempt can shut up now. MSNBC is reporting that the DOJ has announced that it has received an indictment against Bannon for contempt of congress. And nobody even knew they were presenting it to the grand jury. This is how the Justice Department is supposed to work when anyone but Tubby the Ewok is in charge.
And just to strut their new street creds, the DOJ actually gave congress a twofer. They returned not one, but two contempt of congress charges, one for refusing to show up and testify, and another one for his failure to submit demanded documents. Each of these is a separate offense, with separate penalties. Bannon is expected to surrender to the authorities, be booked, and make a preliminary appearance in front of a federal magistrate within 48 hours.
Here is why I said that the timing is so ironic. Former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows had a 10 AM appointment with the committee to turn over documents and testify. He blew them off. It is logical to speculate that neither Meadows nor his attorney felt any compelling urges to cooperate when the committee couldn’t even get an indictment out of the DOJ on Bannon. Surprise!
This sudden development raises a very interesting new dynamic to watch. Like his former boss, Steve Bannon is a shiftless grifter, as well as an actual class warrior in this issue. Bannon has access to funds for his defense, and I believe would willingly go to the slammer and write a book about how loyal a soldier he is. Mark Meadows is not a wealthy man. Neither is Stephen Miller, Kash Patel, Kayleigh McEnany, or most of the other second and third tier flunkies staring down subpoenas. First, now that Meadows realizes that he faces the real prospect of indictment, potentially costing him hundreds of thousands in criminal defense, does he have a little Come to Jesus moment, and re-engage with the committee? And let’s see how some of these other miscreants decide how to handle their own interactions with the committee, knowing the consequences. And it’s also a prima facie statement to the appellate court that the DOJ is not buying this executive privilege bullshit.
One more thing. The penalty for conviction of contempt of congress is up to one year in prison, and a $100,000 fine for each count. Just a little something they’ll all be thinking about from now on.
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This is wonderful news, and wonderfully timed. Given that Bannon has no defence, because he did ignore a lawful subpoena and did not surrender the required documents, it will be fascinating to see what his offered defence might be. Trump’s (non-existent) executive privilege? Just following (the ex-president’s) orders? Being a habitual scumbag unable to change his (illegal) ways? I have popcorn on hand already …
I was holding my breath while waiting for Garland to make a move and now I can take a deep breath and relax. I hope this indictment is just the beginning.
This is the grand jury that’s been handing down the 1/6 indictments.
“Bannon has access to funds for his defense, and I believe would willingly go to the slammer and write a book about how loyal a soldier he is.”
A couple of things: While he’s under indictment, his opportunity to increase those “funds for his defense” dries up as I can’t imagine any judge allowing him to make any public statements. And that bit about the book relies on his ability to get someone to publish it and, even more, on his ability to get people to buy it. NO ONE (not even Trump) cares one whit about Steve Bannon (okay–maybe Steve Bannon cares about Steve Bannon) and there’s absolutely nothing that he could write that would add to all the stuff that everyone already knows about him. His little masturbatory memoir wouldn’t be able to provide the TRULY juicy tidbits to back up “how loyal a soldier he was” without possibly leading to additional charges. And it would be those TRULY juicy tidbits that would make the memoir worth buying, even by Bannon’s “fans” (such as they may be).
Good news, but having already walked on stealing millions, he was pardoned…legally by an imposter & proven criminal president. Let’s see what it actually costs him.