Love And Thundering

NEW: A Trump-appointed judge left former Trump White House aide Steve Bannon with little viable defense in his criminal contempt of congress case and ordered that the jury trial go forward as scheduled next Monday. w/@kyledcheney https://t.co/yJUaYLxRo7

— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) July 11, 2022

I can't quit this just yet:

 Schoen argued Monday that Bannon acted consistently with longstanding Justice Department legal opinions on executive privilege.

“The courts and the Justice Department have treated executive privilege as unique. They created this idea that you don’t even have to appear” when executive privilege is raised, the defense attorney said. “It’s different from every other kind of privilege.... Executive privilege changes the ball game on every level.”

However, Nichols said Bannon and his attorneys were cobbling together portions of various different opinions–none of which squarely applied to Bannon, who had been gone from the White House for years by January 2021. They also did not deal with privilege claims by a former president unsupported by a current one, Nichols noted, adding that Trump also “never instructed Mr. Bannon not to show up altogether.”

"Nichols" is Judge Nichols, the "Trump-appointed judge." And Politico missed this juicy detail: 

"After the judge concluded, Bannon lawyer David Schoen said in the courtroom, 'What is the point of going to trial here if there are no defenses?'

Nichols agreed, suggesting Bannon’s team consider that."

Damnhttps://t.co/BDDT6wowNE

— Peter Strzok (@petestrzok) July 11, 2022

Remember when Bannon said he was gonna make this into the “misdemeanor from hell”? Good times, good times.

When I was practicing law, we had a client who lived in the Northeast somewhere (what? This was over 30 years ago.), who quit paying us/taking our calls/responding altogether.  He was a working-class guy who married a Texas rich girl and when Daddy found out what Dear Daughter had done, told her to end it, quickly! So she hired a cut-throat lawyer who was clearly paid by the word.  Husband soon-to-be-ex hired us, but soon resigned himself to it and didn't want to spend another dime. Anyway, I went to court to get us withdrawn as counsel, something usually done by agreement and without a hearing, but cut-throat made more money going to court than talking for a minute on the phone, so to court we had to go.  I stood up, made my spiel to the retired now-visiting judge, and he smiled benevolently and bid me take my seat.  He turned still smiling like Lionel Barrymore in "You Can't Take It With You" (not Mr. Potter, IOW), and asked:  "Why shouldn't I grant this motion?" 

That's when I knew we were done.

I imagine the DOJ attorneys yesterday in Judge Nichols' court had the same feeling.