OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is not backing down in his fight against Democrats.
During a segment on his War Room podcast, Bannon told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Select Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, and the Department of Justice to “suck on it” following his contempt of Congress conviction.
“I’ve got to take a hat tip, just for a little bit for the War Room,” Bannon said. “I don’t care if Bennie Thompson doesn’t like that, or Nancy Pelosi doesn’t like it, or who doesn’t like it,” he added. “Justice Department, I don’t care if you don’t like it. Suck on it! We’re destroying this illegitimate regime. And the people in Arizona are reporting they hate you guys.”
Bannon also spoke about a report stating that should Donald Trump run for president in 2024 and win, he’s planning to “gut” hundreds, and possibly thousands, of federal employees.
“Jonathan Swan’s reporting is of the utmost importance,” Bannon said. “Put away the cutesy little phrase ‘Drain the swamp,’ put away the cutesy little phrase ‘Swamp creatures.'”
Bannon said that he was in favor of the reported plan because the U.S. had “taken on the model” of an “authoritarian state” that needed to be “deconstructed” and taken “apart brick by brick.”
Earlier this week, a prominent attorney argued that Bannon’s guilty verdict could be overturned.
In an interview with Newsmax host Greta Van Susteren, former Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz spoke about a jury in Washington, D.C., convicting Bannon on two charges of contempt of Congress for ignoring a subpoena.
Dershowitz called the conviction “entirely in violation of the Constitution” and predicted that a higher court will “very likely” overturn it.
“The only provision of the Constitution, which appears basically twice, is trial by jury in and in front of a fair jury. Number one, he didn’t have a fair jury. Number two, the judge took his defenses away from him,” Dershowitz said.
After Van Susteren said the D.C. district where the trial was held is “94 percent Democrat,” Dershowitz chimed in, “Well, not only that, but probably 97 percent Trump haters.”
Dershowitz added: “And all you had to do was say, ‘Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this man Bannon worked for Trump.’ That’s the end of the case.”
“Entirely predictable and entirely in violation of the Constitution. The only provision of the Constitution which appears basically twice is trial by jury, in front of a fair jury. Number one he didn’t have a fair jury. Number two the judge took his defenses away from him. The judge denied him a jury trial. They wouldn’t allow him to put on evidence that he believed there was an executive privilege involved and he wanted a judicial determination before he violated the executive privilege. That issue could not be presented to the jury,” Dershowitz said.
“As I predicted on this show and other shows before this conviction was a foregone conclusion. The only issue is whether will it be reversed by an appeal. Either by the appellate court in the District of Columbia or by the Supreme Court. I think it’s very likely that this conviction will be reversed at some point,” Dershowitz added.
WATCH:
Alan Dershowitz on the Bannon conviction: "Entirely predictable and entirely a violation of the Constitution."
MORE: https://t.co/g2me6UDWVk pic.twitter.com/YfiXdUUjuw
— Newsmax (@newsmax) July 24, 2022
Politico’s Josh Gerstein published a story noting, “any actual jail time for Bannon in the case could be modest and may be years away. And the significant restraints the judge put on the defenses Bannon could offer at trial raise issues that could find traction at an appeals court or even the Supreme Court.”
Last Monday, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols kicked off Bannon’s trial by oddly telling his lawyers they could not cross-examine anyone on the stand in a way that would suggest the case against him is politically motivated.
“I do not intend for this to become a political case, a political circus, a forum for partisan politics,” Nichols said.
Prior to that, Nichols denied Bannon’s request to delay the trial for one month.
Evan Corcoran, Bannon’s attorney, said there was a “seismic shift” in the parties’ understanding surrounding the judge’s past rulings.
From colleague Jake Gibson. Judge denies request by Bannon team to delay contempt of Congress trial for a month.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 19, 2022
Judge rejects Bannon defense team motion for a one-month trial delay. But the argument over that issue could delay the trial for one day. via @hsu_spencer @DevlinBarrett @TomJackmanWP https://t.co/ghGdfqJMVD
— Debbi Wilgoren (@DebbiWilgoren) July 19, 2022
Nichols also denied Bannon’s attempt to delay his trial on criminal contempt of Congress charges stemming from the Democrat-led investigation into the incident at the U.S. Capitol 18 months ago.
Nichols rejected a motion from Bannon to delay it until at least mid-October.
