If all goes according to plan, right-wing cop/podcaster Steve Bannon, after several legal defeats, will report to prison on Saturday. However, his allies on Capitol Hill are still exploring ways to keep him free.
Politico reported overnight that the Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson and his fellow Republican leaders in the House agreed to support a strange effort “to reject the previous Congress’s handling of the January 6 select committee.”
The Speaker of the House of Representatives is apparently not ashamed of this effort: the Louisiana Republican bragged about it last night on Fox News and CNN.
In addition, Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia, chairman of the House Administration Committee’s oversight panel, is also reportedly moving forward with plans for a lawsuit claiming the Jan. 6 committee lacked the authority to make statements — despite the fact that several federal courts have already reached the opposite conclusion.
Before we delve deeper into the partisan play, let’s take a quick look at Bannon’s legal situation, as it provides some necessary context.
The House of Representatives committee investigating the January 6 attack sent Bannon a subpoena in September 2021. Even then, the severity was clear: the podcaster was told that this was a legal subpoena – not a suggestion – and that failure to comply opened the door to meaningful legal consequences.
Bannon nevertheless refused to cooperate. The House then passed a resolution finding the Republican Party in contempt of Congress and referred the case to the Justice Department, which charged the former White House strategist. A jury later convicted Bannon — his lawyers struggled to mount much of the defense — ultimately leading to his prison sentence, which was imposed by a Trump-appointed judge.
A few weeks ago, Rep. Thomas Massie endorsed a provocative idea: Perhaps, the Kentucky Republican argued, the House of Representatives could keep Bannon free by voting to “rescind” the subpoena that Bannon chose to ignore. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene supported the idea soon after.
As a rule, GOP leaders are supposed to shrug indifferently in response to outlandish ideas from their far-right flank, but it appears Johnson and his leadership team quickly got on board with the general idea of trying to save the podcaster, culminating in the The relocation of the Legal Advisory Group.
In theory, there’s no reason to believe that the effort to provide Bannon with a Get Out of Jail Free card would work. Indeed, it is a bit late for the House Republican Conference to effectively declare in a lawsuit, “It doesn’t matter!”
That said, the judiciary is certainly capable of delivering partisan surprises, and Politico’s report added: “It … remains to be seen what legal effect the position of Republican leaders in the House of Representatives will have on the Bannon’s battle.” Watch this space.
This message updates our related previous reporting.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
