'Political prisoner' Steve Bannon set to be freed and hit the ground running



The Biden-Harris Department of Justice prosecuted former Trump adviser and "War Room" host Stephen K. Bannon for actions that Democrats — including Attorney General Merrick Garland and former Attorney General Eric Holder — have similarly executed but without consequence.

Bannon, ultimately convicted in 2022 for supposed contempt of Congress, is scheduled to be released Tuesday from the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, where he has been sidelined for the past four months.

Bannon's allies have been counting the days until he could resume the work of championing the MAGA movement. Some of his critics have similarly been counting the days, albeit with concern over the possibility that he might prove effective once again in mobilizing Republican voters in the final days before the election — after all, Bannon's podcast ranks in the top 30 on Apple's U.S. political list.

"My Dad is a political prisoner of Nancy Pelosi, Merrick Garland, and the corrupt Biden-Harris regime," Bannon's adult daughter, Army veteran, and WarRoom CEO Maureen Bannon, noted on X. "They wanted to silence him and shut down the WarRoom by putting him in Danbury FCI, but all they did was make WarRoom and the Posse bigger, stronger, and more unstoppable!"

"His return will be EPIC!" continued Maureen Bannon. "UNLEASH THE HONEY BADGER!"

Speaking with the titular host of "The Todd Starnes Show" over the weekend, Maureen Bannon indicated that her father's message to "America first conservatives" ahead of his release was to "get out and vote."

"It's very frightening that the Democrats are the ones who say that President Trump, when he is re-elected, will be the one to throw his opponents or anyone that doesn’t agree with him in prison," said Bannon's daughter. "That’s exactly what the left is doing. They did it for Peter Navarro. They put him in prison for four months. They put my dad in prison for four months. This should wake everyone up."

'Don't pray for me. Pray for our enemies.'

"Bannon becomes the new Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn — but for America — tomorrow, October 29, 2024. Soviet Communism's poster child of political persecution," said Jeff Clark, a former assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice's environment and natural resources division.

"He will have withstood being a political prisoner only to emerge, fully energized, and at the top of his game on the eve of the most important election of our lifetimes, where we roll back the tide of Communism for at least another four years or we risk the destruction of the Republic and its conversion, through the border invasion, censorship, and oppression, into a one-party monopoly," added Clark.

Myra Adams, a writer who worked on the late John McCain's campaign in 2008, expressed trepidation, noted in an op-ed for The Hill, "Bannon’s release, with its movie-like timing, will be a Hollywood ending to modern America’s wildest and contentious [sic] presidential campaign. In the last week, Bannon could motivate Trump’s base as a 'poster child' for his well-versed judicial weaponization and retribution themes."

Adams noted further:

Bannon will likely juice Trump’s get-out-the-vote effort to 'save America' from ruin. In the distorted MAGA mindset, that means only Trump can stop bloated, wasteful government, domestic fascism, economic collapse, the migrant invasion, wokeism and anti-Christianity. Only Trump can reduce inflation and the national debt, increase energy production and end foreign entanglements

Bannon was convicted in July 2022 of two charges of contempt of Congress for defying subpoenas from the Democrat-controlled House Select committee investigating the Jan. 6 protests.

Around the time of Bannon's sentencing, Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck said, "Do you recognize your country anymore? We used to be a nation of fundamental rights granted to us by God, and we lived under a system of laws that promised justice. Not social justice, but justice justice. Can I ask you what American justice even means anymore?"

"Was it justice when Steve Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison for contempt of Congress? We've seen people defy Congress for decades, but no one ever goes to jail," continued Beck. "The last time someone went to jail for this was back in 1961. Before that ... 1948! It's rare, even though we've seen people openly defy Congress time after time."

'Every second will count.'

Christopher Bedford, senior editor for politics and Washington correspondent for Blaze Media, said at the time, "It paints a pretty clear picture of the DOJ's priorities that you're seeing Steve Bannon actually go to prison for contempt of Congress while so many others have slipped by."

Bannon reported to prison on July 1 after filing unsuccessful appeals to a full panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals and to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Before turning himself in, Bannon told a crowd of supporters outside the prison, "I am proud to go to prison. If this is what it takes to stand up to tyranny, if this is what it takes to stand up to the Garland corrupt criminal DOJ, if this is what it takes to stand up to Nancy Pelosi, if this is what it takes to stand up to Joe Biden, ... I'm proud to do it."

Ahead of receiving a blessing from a priest and invoking the help of St. Michael the Archangel, Bannon said, "Father, don't pray for me. Pray for our enemies."

Bannon's prison consultant, Sam Mangel, told CNN that during his stint, the "War Room" host first worked in the library then began teaching history and civics to his fellow inmates.

Fred Carrasco Jr., a prisoner serving more than a decade at Danbury, told NOTUS, "It's awesome the s**t this guy knows."

Peter Navarro, Trump's former White House trade adviser who also did time for a contempt of Congress conviction, noted Monday, "Every time they call us fascists, remember they put me and Bannon in prison for defending the Constitution, bankrupted Rudy, took away the bar cards of Clark and Eastman, and want @realDonaldTrump in jail for the rest of his life. Kamala Campaign desperate and desperately woke and wrong."

Raheem Kassam, Bannon ally and editor in chief of the National Pulse, told NOTUS, "I would not be surprised to see him immediately hitting the campaign trail, as well as hosting his 'War Room' show for four hours each day. Every second will count. Every word will matter."

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House Republicans to back Bannon with amicus briefs, underscore illegitimacy of Jan. 6 committee



House Republicans are finally throwing their weight behind Trump ally and "War Room" host Stephen K. Bannon and his emergency appeals to stay out of jail for defying the Jan. 6 committee's subpoenas.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other House GOP leaders on the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group successfully voted Tuesday to file a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in support of Bannon.

Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) will also be filing an amicus brief but instead with the U.S. Supreme Court as chair of the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight in support of Bannon's emergency appeal.

The line of argumentation in the briefs may not only persuade the high court to spare Bannon from prison but could possibly also ramify for other American prisoners.

Loudermilk's committee is also reportedly crafting legislation aimed at nullifying the work of the Jan. 6 committee.

Christopher Bedford, senior editor for politics and Washington correspondent for Blaze Media, said, "It's great to see the work the committee is putting in here, and this sort of thing probably has more ability to spare Bannon prison time than the attempt to withdraw the subpoena (something that's only been done once — by the same committee that issued the subpoena, and before charges were brought)."

Background

Bannon was convicted in July 2022 of two charges of contempt of Congress for defying subpoenas from the Democrat-controlled House select committee tasked with investigating the Jan. 6 protests. He was sentenced to four months in prison.

While Carl Nichols, the Trump-nominated judge overseeing Bannon's case in Washington, D.C., initially paused his sentence while the populist appealed his conviction, a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel later rejected Bannon's challenges, prompting partisan prosecutors to urge Nichols to send Bannon to prison.

Earlier this month, Bannon was ordered to report to prison by July 1. He had, however, two more arrows left in his quiver: an appeal to a full panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals or the U.S. Supreme Court.

The first arrow missed its mark.

On June 20, Biden and Obama judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit voted 2-1 against keeping Bannon out of jail while he exhausted his legal options.

Blaze News previously reported that Trump-nominated Judge Justin Walker, who cast the lone vote against denying Bannon's emergency motion, noted in his dissenting opinion that Bannon's key argument could potentially succeed before the Supreme Court.

An appeal to the high court

Bannon filed an appeal to the Supreme Court on Friday.

The filing underscored that the stakes were high and noted, "Now that a panel of the D.C. Circuit has said that Licavoli remains binding, there is no obstacle to future indictments of anyone and everyone who allegedly defaults on a congressional subpoena, even when they had good faith defenses like advice of counsel or executive privilege — defenses that Licavoli will bar them even from presenting to a jury."

In his defense, Bannon previously suggested he had not responded to the subpoenas on the basis of both advice of counsel and executive privilege.

"In the future, when the House or Senate and the Executive Branch are controlled by the same party, there is every reason to fear that former Executive Branch officials will face prison after declining to provide privileged materials to a committee, even where the position taken was based upon the advice of counsel in good faith and requested further negotiations," added the filing.

Bannon's attorney further argued that the Biden Department of Justice's recent decisions to ignore congressional subpoenas demonstrate "both the significance of the mens rea issue as a matter of law and also the illogic of preventing Mr. Bannon from even arguing to the jury that his reliance on advice of counsel undermined the government's case for 'willfulness.'"

The DOJ is set to file a brief with the Supreme Court Wednesday demanding the Trump critic's immediate jailing.

House Republicans act

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) leaned on Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to spearhead a legal effort to support Bannon's emergency appeal.

Banks noted in a Monday letter to the speaker that "several factors separate the Committee's illegitimate and unenforceable subpoenas [to Bannon and Peter Navarro] from lawfully issued congressional subpoenas."

"As you know, the Committee is the first and only congressional committee in history composed on entirely partisan lines," continued Banks.

'The January 6 committee was, we think, wrongfully constituted. We think the work was tainted.'

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (Calif.) Jan. 6 committee rejected then-GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy's proposed committee members, prompting McCarthy to pull his members and boycott the panel. The committee ultimately had no GOP-appointed ranked minority member.

"Furthermore, the Committee repeatedly violated House Rules and its own charter, House Resolution 503, including provisions limiting its deposition authority," wrote Banks.

In addition to the likelihood of its illegitimacy, Banks noted that thanks to the work of Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), "We now know that the Committee deleted hundreds of records shortly before the 118th Congress and the start of the House Republican majority. This willful destruction of evidence violates House Rules, and because the improperly destroyed documents potentially included evidence of the Committee's misconduct, they could have assisted either Mr. Bannon's or Mr. Navarro's defenses during future appeals."

Banks underscored to Johnson that an amicus brief filed filed on behalf of the chamber in support of Bannon's appeal would have his full support.

Johnson confirmed on Fox News and CNN Tuesday night that the House was working on an amicus brief in support of Bannon's appeal.

"The January 6 committee was, we think, wrongfully constituted. We think the work was tainted. We think that they may have very well covered up evidence and maybe even more nefarious activities," said Johnson. "We will be expressing that to the court and I think it will help Steve Bannon in his appeal."

Johnson noted in a joint statement with Republican Reps. Steve Scalise (La.) and Tom Emmer (Minn.) Wednesday morning that the amicus brief will be "submitted after Bannon files a petition for rehearing en banc and will be in support of neither party."

"It will withdraw certain arguments made by the House earlier in the litigation about the organization of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol during the prior Congress. House Republican Leadership continues to believe Speaker Pelosi abused her authority when organizing the Select Committee," added Johnson.

The Daily Caller reported that Loudermilk was planning to file an amicus brief with the Supreme Court Wednesday morning, emphasizing the Jan. 6 committee lacked the authority to conduct depositions under the House resolution that authorized it.

Loudermilk's office told the Caller that the brief indicated that the Jan. 6 committee held Bannon in contempt for "failing to appear for a deposition," which it was not able to conduct for lack of a ranking member to notify.

"While Nancy Pelosi and Liz Cheney’s two year inquisition may have entertained the media and kept numerous Democrat lawyers busy, it had very real world implications, which we see in the imprisonment of Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon," Loudermilk told the Caller.

"We're in uncharted constitutional waters here. Congress's ability to compel people to appear before it is long-established, but has been eroding since Eric Holder refused to enforce a subpoena against himself. The ability to moot a contempt charge after the fact is hard going, but the ability to convince the court the committee itself was illegitimate? That could be easier," Christopher Bedford told Blaze News.

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Stephen Bannon likely headed to jail after Biden and Obama judges deny his emergency motion for release



A jury in the nation's predominantly Democratic capital convicted former Trump adviser and "War Room" host Stephen K. Bannon in 2022 on a misdemeanor contempt of Congress charge for failing to comply with a subpoena from the partisan House Jan. 6 committee.

Earlier this month, a federal judge ordered Bannon to report to jail by July 1.

Bannon told reporters outside the courthouse that "all of this is about one thing. This is about shutting down the MAGA movement, shutting down grassroots conservatives, shutting down President Trump."

He also made abundantly clear that Attorney General Merrick Garland and the rest of the Biden Department of Justice were "not going to shut up Trump. They're not going to shut up Navarro. They're not going to shut up Bannon. And they're certainly not going to shut up MAGA!"

Bannon's attorneys filed an emergency motion to keep him out of prison as he continued to appeal the conviction on the ground that he "reasonably believed — based on the advice of counsel — that he did not have to respond [to the subpoena]" and that for a contempt conviction, it must be demonstrated he willfully acted in bad faith.

'Bannon should not go to prison before the Supreme Court considers his forthcoming petition for certiorari.'

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied the motion Thursday in a 2-1 vote, noting that Bannon's "ground for requesting release does not warrant a departure from the general rule that a defendant 'shall ... be detained' following conviction and imposition of a sentence of imprisonment."

The two judges in the majority were Cornelia Pillard, a progressive jurist nominated by former Democratic President Barack Obama in 2013, and Bradley Garcia, nominated to the court by Democratic President Joe Biden in 2022.

Trump-nominated Judge Justin Walker, who voted against denying the emergency motion, indicated in his dissenting opinion that the main line of argumentation in Bannon's appeal might succeed before the Supreme Court, which is not bound by the application of the decision in Licavoli v. United States.

The Democrat-selected majority indicated that in Licavoli, the proof of a summoned witness' intentional default in response to a congressional subpoena establishes the requisite willfulness.

"Because the Supreme Court is not bound by Licavoli, because Licavoli's interpretation of 'willfully' is a close question, and because that question may well be material, Bannon should not go to prison before the Supreme Court considers his forthcoming petition for certiorari," concluded Walker.

Bannon's legal team, which has reportedly argued that the Biden DOJ is ostensibly attempting to prevent Bannon from helping with the Trump campaign and speaking out on issues of importance, have filed an emergency stay application in the U.S. Supreme Court.

While there is uncertainty over whether Bannon will ultimately spend four months inside a prison cell for a misdemeanor charge, it's clear that Democratic officials similarly convicted suffer no such consequences.

House Republicans voted to hold Garland in contempt of Congress earlier this month for defying subpoenas for audio recordings of Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur — an interview from which Hur, whose report indicated Biden "willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice-presidency when he was a private citizen," concluded the Democratic president might be too decrepit for a jury to convict.

Unlike in Bannon's case, the Biden Department of Justice revealed on June 14 that it would no longer bother prosecuting Garland.

Eric Holder, Obama's attorney general, was held in contempt of Congress in an overwhelming 255-67 vote in 2012 for refusing to turn over documents related to the Fast and Furious scandal.

The Obama DOJ quickly rewarded Holder for keeping the Democratic president's documents from the American people's elected representatives by refusing to prosecute.

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'They're not going to shut up MAGA!' Federal judge orders former Trump advisor Steve Bannon to prison



A federal judge has ordered former Trump advisor and "War Room" host Stephen K. Bannon to report to jail by July 1.

Bannon told reporters outside the courthouse Thursday that "all of this is about one thing. This is about shutting down the MAGA movement, shutting down grassroots conservatives, shutting down President Trump."

"Merrick Garland, Lisa Monaco, the entire Justice Department — they're not going to shut up Trump. They're not going to shut up Navarro. They're not going to shut up Bannon. And they're certainly not going to shut up MAGA!" added Bannon.

Background

While it is apparently acceptable for Democrats and elements of the Biden Department of Justice to ignore subpoenas by House Republicans, that tolerance is evidently not universal.

Bannon was convicted in July 2022 of two charges of contempt of Congress for defying subpoenas from the Democrat-controlled House Select committee investigating the Jan. 6 protests. He was subsequently sentenced to four months in prison.

'Can I ask you what American justice even means anymore?'

In response to the ruling, Bannon said, "We're gonna win at the Supreme Court," reported the National Pulse. "There's not a jail built, not a prison built that can shut me up."

Around the time of Bannon's sentencing, Blaze Media cofounder and nationally syndicated radio host Glenn Beck said in a special, "Do you recognize your country anymore? We used to be a nation of fundamental rights granted to us by God, and we lived under a system of laws that promised justice. Not social justice, but justice justice. Can I ask you what American justice even means anymore?"

"Was it justice when Steve Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison for contempt of Congress? We've seen people defy Congress for decades, but no one ever goes to jail," continued Beck. "The last time someone went to jail for this was back in 1961. Before that ... 1948! It's rare, even though we've seen people openly defy Congress time after time."

"Selectively deciding whether or not they'll decide to enforce the law isn't justice," added Beck. "[Bannon will do] four months in jail, but in January 2021, the former FBI lawyer that got caught falsifying evidence to spy on a member of President Trump's staff was spared prison and given a minor slap on the wrist."

Bannon was not the only Trump advisor subjected to selective justice.

The following September, Trump's former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro was also convicted of contempt of Congress.

Navarro's lawyers wrote to the Supreme Court saying that the "prosecution of a senior presidential advisor asserting executive privilege conflicts with the constitutional independence required by the doctrine of separation of powers."

"Not once before Dr. Navarro's prosecution has the Department of Justice concluded a senior presidential advisor may be prosecuted for contempt of congress following an assertion of executive privilege," added his lawyers.

Having been unsuccessful in his appeal, Navarro reported to prison in March.

Bannon to prison

Carl Nichols, the Trump-nominated judge overseeing Bannon's case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, initially paused his sentence while the "War Room" host appealed his conviction, reported CNN.

However, a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel unanimously tossed Bannon's challenges. Partisan prosecutors then asked Nichols to send Bannon packing to prison.

The judge indicated Thursday that he no longer felt there was cause to pause Bannon's sentence "any longer."

'Biden and his aides are taking off the political battlefield two of Trump's top surrogates before the 2024 presidential election.'

Bannon's defense attorneys reportedly argued ahead of Thursday's hearing that the judge lacked the authority to toss him in prison before he exhausted his options to appeal, including to a full panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals or the U.S. Supreme Court as Navarro had attempted.

Outside the court, one of Bannon's attorneys said, "This case raises a dynamic separation of powers issue. We know from years and decades of case law that the president and a former president has the authority to invoke executive privilege. ... It's his prerogative to invoke and it's presumptively valid when invoked. It's not for Congress to determine whether it was an appropriate invocation or otherwise, and Congress cannot be the arbiter of how to respond to that. Only a court can be."

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Reactions

Christopher Bedford, senior editor for politics and Washington correspondent for Blaze Media, said, "It paints a pretty clear picture of the DOJ's priorities that you're seeing Steve Bannon actually go to prison for contempt of Congress while so many others have slipped by."

"I would like to say that it sets a precedent that Republicans ought to use in their own investigations. For example, the Republican leaders of the House Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary and Ways and Means committees referred Hunter Biden for arrest for contempt for lying to Congress. But that's not going to be enforced," said Bedford. "And it's not going to set a precedent because Republicans aren't going to take the same tack that Democrats have, unfortunately."

Mike Davis of the Article III Project noted in a statement, "We have had constitutional executive privilege for 250 years — going back to George Washington — so the President of the United States can receive candid, confidential advice from his advisors without fear their advice will get publicly aired before courts or Congress."

"President Biden and his Attorney General Merrick Garland have shamefully destroyed this, in their partisan quest to politicize and weaponize the Biden Justice Department to go after President Trump and his top aides," said Davis. "Biden and his aides are taking off the political battlefield two of Trump's top surrogates before the 2024 presidential election."

Davis added that this was all part of "a broader criminal conspiracy by Biden, his aides, and his allies to politicize and weaponize law enforcement and intel agencies to violate the constitutional rights of Trump, his aides, and his allies for the purposes of partisan lawfare and election interference."

Jack Posobiec, senior editor at Human Events and frequent guest on Bannon's "War Room," highlighted the nominal Republicans who voted to hold Bannon in contempt and effectively sealed his fate.

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Natalie Winters, cohost of "War Room," tweeted, "F*** Merrick Garland," then "War Room isn't going anywhere."

Former Trump White House official Darren Beattie noted that when the Democrats are no longer "able to force social media companies to censor, they resort to simply jailing their critics. Prison is the second stage of deplatforming."

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