So I rolled in from the movie theater (it's good to be retired) to find, well....you'll see.BREAKING: Steve Bannon's contempt of Congress trial is still on schedule for next Monday. Judge Carl Nichols refuses to delay. Next pretrial hearing is Thursday.
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) July 11, 2022
Overall, it was a pretty bad day for Bannon in court. https://t.co/YFyKiGZ0Qv
HERE WE GO: Nichols' first ruling is in favor of DOJ. Prosceutors only need to prove Bannon acted "deliberately" and "intentionally" to defy the select committee — not that he knew it was illegal or wrong.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) July 11, 2022
And there goes the whole mishugga with Trump teasing, then writing, a letter about executive privilege which he doesn't understand and no longer exerts, and reporters all stupidly thinking this would be a thing. Bannon can't raise executive privilege in the trial to throw sand in the jury's eyes. Which means he can't raise the letter of July 9 and his offer to testify to the Committee (an offer the Committee has yet to accept, and is under no deadline to accept by next Monday). BOOM!, as they say, goes the dynamite.This is a huge blow to Bannon's defense -- it essentially cuts off his primary arguments that he claimed justified his decision not to appear. He's left with very little else in his defense.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) July 11, 2022
This is not, by the way, the judge cutting off Bannon at the knees because, well...Bannon. This is the judge refusing to allow a criminal contempt trial being turned into a circus as Bannon tries to hide behind a flurry of irrelevancies. Courts are generally really quite good at eliminating those.ANOTHER RULING: Nichols now rules that Bannon *cannot* make entrapment by estoppel or public authority defenses to the jury.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) July 11, 2022
See?NICHOLS: "The former president, in his civilian capacity, is by definition not a federal official" and "never instructed Mr. Bannon not to show up altogether."
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) July 11, 2022
The "illegal committee" argument is mostly for idiots and reporters(!) anyway. The Court is absolutely right: Congress gets to determine when its committees are legitimate, not the courts. Separation of powers, bitches!Even if Bannon hadn't waived the argument, Nichols rules the House's select committee procedures are "ambiguous" at worst, and that the House had repeatedly demonstrated its interpretation of those rules. The court/jury has no role interpreting the House's rules for it, he notes.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) July 11, 2022
"RINOS" is not a legal defense.NICHOLS says he will carefully police evidence DOJ offers about the events of Jan. 6 itself. He also says Bannon is allowed to introduce evidence of "bias" by certain witnesses but that grilling someone about political affiliations is off limits.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) July 11, 2022
Relatedly, Nichols denies Bannon's motion to obtain discovery related ot the DOJ declination decisions on Scavino and Meadows.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) July 11, 2022
We pause here because Lindsay Graham is so PISSED he made a phone call rather than a speech on the Senate floor.MORE: Bannon will NOT be allowed to subpoena Speaker Pelosi and members of the Jan. 6 select committee.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) July 11, 2022
"The language of the speech or debate clause is absolute."
BTW, the judge won't delay Bannon's trial, either.Judge orders Lindsey Graham to appear before grand jury in Georgia election tampering case https://t.co/fMWng67gpV
— Raw Story (@RawStory) July 11, 2022
editorial note: that should have been "rout FOR DOJ." It's what he meant, not what he said, though. And that's hardly all the day did while I was being entertained:"What's the point in going to trial here if there are no defenses?" Bannon's lawyer, Schoen, says.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) July 11, 2022
The fundamental problem with ANY concept is that people will get hold of it; and some of those people will be idiots. Go and please the world.The fundamental problem with ANY concept that has some descriptive power and validity — say, “white privilege” — is that it will be applied by people, and people are idiots. https://t.co/RUikSL2Flq
— GrandchildSharpshooterHat (@Popehat) July 11, 2022
Is it any wonder that even in Georgia this guy is sinking like a stone?And from the Confusion-To-Our-Enemies Dept.:Herschel on the climate/Green New Deal/air:
— stephen fowler (@stphnfwlr) July 11, 2022
"Since we don't control the air our good air decided to float over to China's bad air so when China gets our good air, their bad air got to move. So it moves over to our good air space. Then now we got we to clean that back up." pic.twitter.com/BsR4GVAbX7
Progressive group to press Biden not to run in 2024 https://t.co/Xmbf8k6muD via @politico
— David Siders (@davidsiders) July 11, 2022
seen on Fox News pic.twitter.com/bhgvkwgXpv
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 11, 2022
And forget favorability ratings! It's summer! People are hot, tired, testy, and need to see a movie with comic screaming goats in an air conditioned theater! WHO'S WITH ME!!!!!!!?????????!!!!!!!!! 🐐As a former R. consultant I bear responsibility for the democracy eating monster the party became, so I get Dems don’t want to hear this from me. But I’d plead with Dems to rally around @POTUS. He’s your guy. You’re going to win with him or lose with him. Make the choice to win.
— stuart stevens (@stuartpstevens) July 11, 2022
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