Why Bannon Isn’t in Jail? Trump Advisor Faces Justice: Prison

I tried to count all the Trump people who have been charged with crimes. I found a dozen. I probably missed a few.

There was a time, not so long ago, when a conviction meant serious trouble for anyone involved in politics.

That time has passed. American political norms and values have been warped, perhaps permanently, by politicians, aides, and lawyers who now see criminal charges and public trials as little more than opportunities to exploit their brand.

For that, we have former President Donald Trump — now a convicted felon and the favorite to win the presidency in November — to thank.

Just ask Trump’s most loyal propagandist, Steve Bannon, who is scheduled to surrender at a federal prison in Connecticut on Monday.

Steven Bannon is part of what I call the Trump Confederacy of Inmates

Trump often compares himself to another former Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, who led the country during its most turbulent times by strengthening a “team of rivals” – advisers who often disagreed with each other or with the president but worked as best they could. American interest.

Trump, of course, is nothing like Lincoln. But he has surrounded himself with a discredited crew—lawyers, strategists, and propagandists—to help tear down the institutions, norms, and standards that constrain politicians like him.

Let’s call them the Confederation of Convicts.

The Supreme Court was appointed to decide this case

Bannon – a former top Trump campaign adviser and White House strategist – must serve four months after being convicted in October 2022 of two felony counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena issued by the U.S. House Select Committee that investigated the U.S. Capitol riot. January 2021

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected his latest attempt to delay his prosecution.

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Bannon’s statement implies that his sentence begins 619 days after his conviction because it would fall during the presidential election, when he would be needed to help Trump. Bannon omits the part that the long delay was due to his frantic attempts to avoid prosecution.

On Thursday, on his podcast and webcast War Room, Bannon accused former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of a “reign of terror” for creating the commission, seeming resigned to his time behind bars but excited that House Republican leaders were rallying behind his cause.

Republicans tried to shield Bannon from accountability

Remember Law and Order Republicans. Those days are gone too. At least for now.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, along with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Republican from Louisiana, and House Caucus Chairman Tom Emmer, a Republican from Minnesota, on Wednesday pledged to use U.S. taxpayer dollars to request another hearing in Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Last week, the court gave Bannon until July 15 to file his plea, which will be after the prison report deadline.

The U.S. Justice Department noted in a court filing Wednesday that another former Trump adviser, Peter Navarro, was convicted of contempt of Congress for evading a special committee subpoena and has been serving a four-month sentence since March. The Supreme Court also dismissed Navarro’s conviction in April.

On Friday, Bannon aired clips of fired Fox News broadcaster-turned-internet host Tucker Carlson on his show War Room, claiming that Bannon’s case was an example of President Joe Biden’s administration “using prison as a political tool.”

This is a distraction from the nonsense. Maybe this time Bannon will finally be held accountable.

Remember that Trump pardoned Bannon

He had already slipped away before. Trump, on his last day in office, pardoned Bannon on federal charges that had not gone to trial. He was accused of pocketing money raised for a nonprofit called We Build The Wall, ostensibly to help build a wall along America’s southern border.

Prosecutors said Bannon and his co-defendants, who were not pardoned and were sentenced in 2023, spent the money on themselves.

Trump’s January 2021 announcement of Bannon’s pardon called him “a major leader in the conservative movement and known for his political acumen.”

He certainly has a knack for avoiding responsibility. But can he keep it up?

Bannon has more legal issues keeping him busy

Let’s assume Bannon serves a full four months. Navarro was sent to prison in mid-March, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons lists his release date as mid-July, a full four months.

That would put Bannon back on the street just four days before November’s general election. But he will have other worries.

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Bannon was charged in September 2022 in a combined state and local case in New York with money laundering, conspiracy and fraud in connection with the We Build The Wall fundraiser. The trial is scheduled for September 23, more than a month before Bannon is scheduled to be released from prison.

Even a re-elected President Trump would not be able to pardon Bannon on state charges if he is convicted.

Trump is what his friends are

Bannon is just one of many Trump minions who continue to try to avoid responsibility. Some, like Bannon, received last-minute pardons. Others face criminal charges for trying to overturn the 2020 elections in Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin.

Several of Trump’s lawyers are in the process of having their law licenses disbarred or suspended. Three of them have already pleaded guilty in Georgia.

I tried to count all the Trump people who have been charged with crimes. I found a dozen. I probably missed a few.

Politicians are what they surround themselves with. Trump still has criminal trials in three other places. No wonder he likes people who, at their convenience, try to destroy institutions and the rule of law.

Follow USA TODAY elections columnist Chris Brennan on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ByChrisBrennan