A federal appeals court in Washington D.C. shot down Trump ally and host of the podcast “War Room” Steve Bannon’s bid to delay his prison term while he appeals his conviction for contempt of Congress. Unless the former Trump advisor is able to convince the Supreme Court to step in, he must report to prison on July 1 to begin serving his four-month sentence.
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Bannon’s “crimes” consist of refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas regarding the J6 protests and subsequently being held in contempt for it.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, earlier this month granted prosecutors’ request to send Bannon to prison after a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld his conviction.
Bannon’s lawyers had asked the appeals court to allow him to remain free while he continues to fight the conviction all the way up to the Supreme Court, if necessary.
His case mirrors that of another former Trump aide, Peter Navarro, who sits in a federal pen in Miami on similar contempt charges after his appeals failed.
Hell hath no fury like crusading Democrats
VIDEO: Donald Trump Says ‘It’s a Disgrace to Our Nation, What They Did’ to Peter Navarro
No comment yet from former Obama-era Attorney General Eric Holder, who in 2012 was also held in contempt of Congress yet faced exactly zero consequences. Meanwhile, Attorney General Merrick Garland was just held in contempt for refusing to hand over the Robert Hur tapes—yet the DOJ quickly announced that no charges would be forthcoming.
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A two-tiered justice system indeed.
Related: BREAKING: House of Representatives Votes to Hold AG Merrick Garland in Contempt of Congress
Department of Justice to Speaker Johnson: No Prosecution of Merrick Garland for Contempt of Congress
Republicans in Congress are not unaware of the two-faced execution of justice, and in what RedState’s Susie Moore described as an “intriguing move,” they earlier this week introduced a measure aimed at “rescinding the subpoenas directed to Navarro and Bannon, as well as Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino, and withdrawing the recommendations to hold them in contempt of Congress.” Whether that move will be effective is unknown at this time.
House Introduces Resolution to Rescind Subpoenas, Contempt Recommendations for Navarro, Bannon
Meanwhile, multiple reports indicate that the Justice Department intends to further humiliate Bannon by not sending him to a comfortable Club Fed lockup but instead to a federal prison where hardened criminals could be roaming around. CNN gloated over the news:
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Instead of a minimum-security prison camp, where many nonviolent offenders serve their time, Bannon – now a right-wing podcaster with a following of loyal Trump supporters – is set to report next month to the low-security federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, one of the sources told CNN…
The prison in Connecticut where Bannon will live houses a large number of white-collar criminals, but it also may house violent and sex offenders in its men’s population.
If things continue apace, both Navarro and Bannon will be behind bars during the Republican National Convention, which starts on July 15. They may be joined by another top Republican—none other than presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump—if corrupt Judge Juan Merchan gives him time for his conviction on 34 counts of business fraud in Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s perversely politicized persecution of the former president.
Speaking of Bragg, the man who digs up years-old misdemeanors and turns them into phantom felonies, the Manhattan DA can’t be bothered to prosecute those who actually break the law.
It all depends on which side you’re on:
OUTRAGE: DA Bragg Drops Charges on Nearly All the Columbia Rioters Arrested
Sentencing in the business fraud case is set for July 11. Imagine if all three of them—Bannon, Navarro, and Trump—are staring at concrete walls as the GOP makes its case to the American public? “Banana Republic” would not begin to describe what we’d be seeing—”Soviet-style tyranny” would perhaps be more apt.
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And yet—that is what we are witnessing in this country, day after day, show trial after show trial. Only the voters can put a stop to this malevolent force in our politics, and God help us, they will in November. If they—we—don’t, we’re looking at a dark future indeed.