There aren’t a lot of things you can count on in this life, but one thing on which you definitely, 100% always can is Republicans rallying around the absolute worst members of society. Whether it’s an unsympathetic teen who killed two people, a colleague who proudly harasses school shooting survivors, or a Supreme Court justice accused of attempted rape, the GOP just loves to go to bat for these people. So naturally, their new pet cause is Steve Bannon, the indicted former Trump adviser who is literally still trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
In the wake of the Friday news that a grand jury had charged Bannon for refusing to appear for a deposition with January 6 investigators and refusing to turn over requested documents—neither of which is in dispute!—Republican lawmakers have flown to the man’s defense, claiming, amazingly, that he’s a victim of a zealous Department of Justice and vowing to get revenge against the people who have wronged him.
“Now that Democrats have started these politically-motivated indictments for Contempt of Congress, I look forward to seeing their reactions when we keep that same energy as we take back the House next year!” Rep. Lauren Boebert tweeted on Saturday, as though there’s a single, solitary thing that Republicans do that’s not “politically motivated.” “For years, Democrats baselessly accused President Trump of ‘weaponizing’ the DOJ. In reality, it is the Left that has been weaponizing the DOJ the ENTIRE TIME – from the false Russia Hoax to the Soviet-style prosecution of political opponents,” Rep. Elise Stefanik claimed, apparently forgetting that Donald Trump desperately tried to get the DOJ to prosecute, among others, Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. Matt Gaetz, who knows a little something about potential indictments, tweeted the hashtag #TeamBannon alongside a photo of the two of them on a tarmac near Air Force One.
Meanwhile, Rep. Jim Jordan suggested that Republicans will seek retribution for Bannon if they take over the House in 2022, claiming that Biden aides can expect to receive an avalanche of frivolous subpoenas. “Joe Biden has evicerated [sic] Executive Privilege,” Jordan wrote on Twitter. “There are a lot of Republicans eager to hear testimony from Ron Klain and Jake Sullivan when we take back the House.” Obviously, Jordan did not mention that Klain and Sullivan do not have information concerning the violent attack on the Capitol that took place last January, nor did he note that Congress is strictly interested in what Bannon might have discussed with Trump in regard to the insurrection, and not legitimate government business. Bannon is viewed as a key witness for the January 6 select committee because he reportedly had conversations with Trump in the weeks leading up to the Capitol attack, was present in the “war room” of Trump allies as the insurrection went down, and told podcast listeners on January 5, “All hell is going to break loose tomorrow.” In September, Bannon said that he told Trump before the insurrection that he needed to “kill [the Biden] administration in the crib early on.” “In short,” the House committee said in its report putting forward a contempt resolution against him, “Mr. Bannon appears to have played a multi-faceted role in the events of January 6th, and the American people are entitled to hear his first-hand testimony regarding his actions.“
For his part, Trump released a characteristically insane, historically inaccurate statement on Sunday, saying, “This Country has perhaps never done to anyone what they have done to Steve Bannon and they are looking to do it to others, also.” (The people imprisoned in Japanese internment camps would probably like a word. And enslaved people too. Oh, and the ones who died while someone was publicly claiming COVID-19 was no big deal.)
As for Bannon, who surrendered to the FBI on Monday morning, he appears to…not be contrite at all. On Friday, as the news broke of his indictment, he declared on his podcast that “thugs” run The New York Times and claimed that pro-Trump Republicans are “taking over all the elections.”
“We’re taking action, and that action is we’re taking over school boards, we’re taking over the Republican Party through the precinct committee strategy,” he said, then gestured towards his crotch and said, “We’re taking over all the elections. Suck on this!”
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