Hooray for rule of law! It’s what stands between us and the jungle.
But the wheels of justice grind slowly, and Steve Bannon — domestic abuser, thief, and seditionist — has yet to answer for a criminal career that began 26 years ago.
Bannon was charged in 1996 with domestic violence, but the victim dropped prosecution because (according to her) he threatened her.
In August 2020, he was federally indicted for stealing donations for a private border wall; Trump prevented a trial by pardoning him, but in August 2022, New York brought state charges against him for that, which are pending. (See details here.)
Then, in September 2021, he defied a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, and in July 2022 was convicted of charges amounting to contempt of Congress. He was sentenced for that on Friday, October 21, to four months in jail (story here).
But he won’t go to jail just yet, and possibly never will for this, as the judge said he doesn’t have to begin serving it while he appeals (which is appropriate).
America has more woman-beaters and thieves than you and I can count; we care about that, but it’s ordinary crime-blotter stuff. Bannon is a fascist. Many of us care deeply about that, given his influence in the Trump orbit, but holding noxious political beliefs isn’t illegal in this country (and shouldn’t be).
Our elected representatives have a responsibility to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attempt to overthrow our democratically-elected government in order to determine whether new laws are needed to protect us from a future violent takeover of the government. Congress has authority to subpoena material witnesses like Bannon, and that authority is backed by criminal laws. Either society enforces those laws, or lives under the law of the jungle.
Bannon styles himself as a “political prisoner,” but he’s nothing of the kind. At core, he’s an anarchist, flouting society’s rules and testing what he can get away with. He’s cast himself in a role of him-against-us. I want him to serve that jail sentence, because I want rule of law to win, and don’t want our country to degenerate into a jungle.
But the wheels of justice grind slowly, and we have to wait … and wait … and wait … for justice to catch up with this uncivilized man.
Related story: A former U.S. attorney says Bannon should have been jailed immediately after being sentenced, citing a federal statute, and says she’s surprised he wasn’t, see story here. Politics may have played a role, as the judge is a Trump appointee.