Steve Bannon was arrested on Thursday on money laundering and conspiracy charges stemming from a fundraising scheme to build a wall on the Southern border. Bannon, who is the self-proclaimed leader of the “MAGA grassroots movement,” surrendered himself in New York City to prosecutors following the indictment.
Apparently, New York AG Letecia James wasn’t satisfied, though. Later in the day, after had Bannon turned himself in, he was put in chains and perp walked down a long line of prepositioned media for his arraignment.
Forgive me for not giving James, who has shown herself to be a partisan hack over the years, the benefit of the doubt here. Everything about this appears to be prompted by politics. Why would they perp walk him in front of the media after he had already turned himself in? What was that accomplishing except giving the salivating media the shot they wanted for their reports, which will no doubt give any credence to Bannon’s side of the story?
As Jesse Kelly noted in response, this only stops when Republican AGs start playing hardball and offer some threat of mutually assured destruction.
Democrat partisans in AG offices and the DOJ have spent the last several years playing this game. We’ve seen it multiple times with CNN magically being present for pre-dawn raids of Trump associates. Leftwing prosecutors, often helped into office by George Soros, see themselves as not just unbiased enforcers of the law, but as empowered to humiliate and punish their political enemies. Republican prosecutors don’t operate that way, and while that may be laudable, it’s not sustainable as long as the other side is lashing out the way it is.
As to Bannon specifically, I want to see the facts and then I’ll form an opinion on what he did or didn’t do. He raised millions to build a wall on the border. Where did that money go? If he can’t show that it’s safe and sound, not spent on other things, then he’s in trouble. And you know what? While it may piss some people off, he should be in trouble if he misused that money.
Frankly, I’m tired of being expected to defend people who are enriching themselves, possibly in corrupt ways, on the backs of Republican voters just because they are ostensibly “on my side.” Let’s see the evidence here and then I’ll opine on how I feel about the charges themselves. Further, as I’ve said before, Republicans need to get out of New York City. Basing an operation there is suicide at this point.
On the other side of this discussion, GOP prosecutors should be dropping the harmer on every Democrat official or high-level influencer who has ever jaywalked at this point. Take the gloves off and show that the law won’t just be enforced against one side. Maybe, just maybe, that’ll bring some sanity back to the system.