Fascist provocateur and January 6 conspirator Steve "Loose Cannon" Bannon goes to Federal court today for ignoring a subpoena from the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection. The first item of business is jury selection, but many legal experts are saying that Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, has wiped away most of the legal defense arguments that Bannon was prepared to make:
"A series of pre-trial rulings has left Bannon virtually defenseless, precluding him from presenting a number of arguments his defense lawyers hoped to raise. At a hearing in Washington, DC, last week that eviscerated many of Bannon's planned defenses, US District Court Judge Carl Nichols ruled that his lawyers could not argue that executive privilege excused his refusal to sit for questioning or turn over records to the House January 6 committee.
Nichols, a Trump appointee confirmed in 2019, similarly prevented Bannon's defense team from arguing that his past role as former President Donald Trump's chief White House strategist justified his defiance. The judge also forbade Bannon's lawyers from pointing to internal Justice Department memos describing limits on congressional subpoenas, and he extinguished the onetime Trump advisor's hope of calling House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers to testify."
Bannon is still hoping to turn this trial into what he called the "misdemeanor from hell," using delay tactics and anticipating appeals when he's convicted. He'll certainly use the attention to theatrically propagandize against his political enemies, real and imagined. But the sooner this dangerous right-wing demagogue is behind bars, the better for this country.
(photo: Kevin Lamarque / Reuters)
