Following Conviction, Steve Bannon Speaks with Carlson

by Sharon Rondeau

(Jul. 23, 2022) – Several minutes into his Friday night show, “Tucker Carlson Tonight” host Tucker Carlson announced former Trump White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon would provide commentary on the outcome of his “show trial,” as Carlson characterized it, for two charges of contempt of Congress stemming from his initial refusal to testify to the “January 6 Committee,” citing Trump’s invocation of executive privilege over their communications.

The committee comprises members of the U.S. House of Representatives diametrically opposed to Trump’s objectives, all of whom voted in favor of Articles of Impeachment accusing Trump of having led and “insurrection” at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, the day Congress is constitutionally-mandated to count the states’ reported electoral results from each presidential election.

It would be the House’s second unsuccessful attempt to secure Trump’s conviction in the Senate, despite his planned departure from the White House on January 20, 2021 at noon to make way for the Biden regime.

Since November 4, 2020, Trump has insisted he won the election with an overwhelming number of electoral votes over Democrat Joe Biden and that the relaxation of state election laws, purportedly to accommodate COVID-19 pandemic fears of voting in person allowing outside drop boxes, vastly expanded absentee voting, and the counting of votes four days after the legislatively-mandated deadlines, were responsible for Biden’s installation in the White House.

In a July 9, 2022 letter to Bannon, Trump lifted his earlier executive privilege claim, writing he wished to provide Bannon the latitude to testify to the committee if he so chose based on “all of the trauma you must be going through for the love of her Country, and out of respect for the Office of the President.”

“When you first received the Subpoena to testify and provide documents, I invoked Executive Privilege,” Trump wrote. “However, I watched how unfairly you and others have been treated, having to spend vast amounts of money on legal fees, and all of the trauma you must be going through for the love of your Country, and out of respect for the Office of the President. Therefore, if you reach an agreement on a time and place for your testimony, I will waive Executive Privilege for you, which allows for you to go in and testify truthfully and fairly, as per the request of the Unselect Committee of political Thugs and Hacks, who have allowed no Duc Process, no Cross-Examination, and no real Republican members or witnesses to be present or interviewed. It is a partisan Kangaroo Court.”

Consequently, Bannon’s attorney, Robert Costello, wrote to the committee indicating Bannon would be willing to testify publicly.

However, the government claimed Bannon did not provide subpoenaed documents to the committee, and presiding judge Carl Nichols scheduled trial to begin on Monday, July 18 in Washington, DC. On that day, Business Insider reported, “Bannon has vowed to go ‘medieval,’ but several pre-trial rulings have left him almost defenseless.”

On Friday afternoon, the mainstream press was replete with the news that Bannon had been convicted on both counts after less than three hours of jury deliberation, an outcome which did not appear to surprise Bannon.

“As you can tell, the Democrats are completely lawless, and look how they’ve run this committee,” he told Carlson at the opening of the interview. “There’s no ranking member; there’s no minority counsel; it’s not like the traditional hearings that have galvanized the nation in the past…”

He complimented Carlson on providing “more original reporting,” including featuring Darren Beattie of Revolver News, on the incursion into the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, the day Trump spoke at a rally with approximately one million people in attendance which began as a peaceful protest of what Trump and his supporters believed to be a “stolen” election. Later that afternoon, there were vandalism and violence inside the Capitol, interrupting the counting of the electoral votes Congress is constitutionally mandated to oversee on the January 6 following a presidential election.

The Capitol complex was shut down for several hours until protesters and miscreants were cleared, after which counting resumed and no other formal objections some congressional members had planned to make were allowed to be heard by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Violence was perpetrated by the U.S. Capitol Police on unarmed Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt, who died of an injury to her neck while other protesters watched in horror.

Another January 6 death is that of Roseann Boyland, about whom The Post & Email submitted FOIA requests to the U.S. Capitol Police and FBI more than a month ago.

The most recent hearing of the January 6 Committee took place during “prime time” Thursday night, running well into a third hour, its final hearing until September.

The committee “hearings” appear fully-scripted, produced by a former ABC News executive, with recorded interviews aired in a loop on a screen Thursday night and committee members reading from teleprompters throughout the hearings, which began last month. No cross-examination of witnesses has been allowed, although Trump and others, such as the Secret Service, have refuted some witnesses’ version of events.

Speaking to the press following the “guilty” verdicts, Bannon promised an immediate appeal.

Nichols has already set sentencing for October 21, after which Bannon could face up to two years in prison and $200,000 in fines.

“We need a committee on January 6; it’s gotta be with the new Congress, with Republicans in charge, and we’ve gotta get to the bottom of the intelligence failures, FBI involvement, DHS involvement, the intelligence services, what happened with the Pentagon and the National Guard, all of this — Ashli Babbit,…” Bannon told Carlson, “…and people are going to get to the bottom of it…”

“We wanted decision-makers to come over and actually go on record, under oath, and say what happened here, and they wouldn’t; they hid behind a privilege…” he said.

“…There’s no allegation that you organized January 6 or were there,” Carlson responded. “It’s fully insane. They don’t like your politics, they hate your attitude, and they’re trying to send you to jail. I didn’t think this could happen; did you think this could happen?”

“A hundred percent I think it happens,” Bannon replied. “This is the elites that run this country; this is exactly how they want to run it. Remember, Tucker, I’m not new to this. I have spent more than any Trump official in intense — being a witness in the Mueller commission for, I think, 30 hours; in the House Intelligence Committee, the Senate Intelligence Committee…here I had (Atty.) David Schoen; I had top lawyers; they wouldn’t even rely on the opinion of my lawyer.”

“Here they took away every possible defense so somebody could have a defense of law,” Bannon continued. “That’s why we didn’t even put on a defense. We just had opening argument and closing argument…People have to understand: this is just one fight in an entire process…,” he said, calling for vice-chair of the committee Liz Cheney (R-WY) to be defeated in her August 9 primary and for Republicans to have “a sweeping victory in the House” in November.

“For the good of the system, this has to happen,” Bannon said.

“But in the meantime, you’ve just been convicted,” Carlson responded. “How do you feel about going to jail? Are you confident you would be safe there, for example?”

“First off, if I go to jail, I go to jail,” Bannon responded. “I will never back off a second. I spent eight years as a Naval officer…I support Trump and the Constitution, and I’m not backing off one inch. We’ve got a long appeals process; I think the law is with us…I’m going to fight this all the way, and this is not the only battle we’re fighting…they’re coming for everybody. People have to understand: right now there’s a ideological war, and we cannot lose. The fate of the country is over the next couple years…”

“There are just thousands and thousands and thousands of fighters out there that say, ‘We’re not gonna back down one inch, and I’m not going to back down one inch at all,” Bannon reiterated.

“The Republicans have been controlled opposition; that’s what has to change,” Bannon continued, to which Carlson indicated his agreement. “This November, we have to deliver a crushing blow to the Democratic Party apparatus. But then, we have to really govern, and I mean govern on offense. Every committee in the House has to be an oversight committee,” Bannon said. “We have to go after the Biden administration, which is illegitimate — you can tell they’re illegitimate — look how the Saudis mock us to our face. Look at the Chinese Communist Party have absolutely no respect; they understand he’s illegitimate…” [sic]

He said a “real January 6 Committee” is necessary, “including to get to the staffers to see about the lies and misrepresentations they put on national television to defame people. I would tell the January 6 staff right now: ‘Preserve your documents,’ because there’s going to be a real committee…”

The next hearing of the “Committee” is on Tuesday.