If all goes according to plan, right-wing operative/podcaster Steve Bannon, on the heels of several legal defeats, will report to prison on Monday. His Capitol Hill allies, however, are still exploring ways to keep him free.
Politico reported overnight that House Speaker Mike Johnson and his fellow Republican leaders in the chamber agreed to back an odd effort “to reject the previous Congress’ handling of the Jan. 6 select committee.”
The Republican leaders voted to make their determination the formal position of the House, allowing them to file a legal brief on behalf of the chamber, according to three people familiar with a party-line, secret vote that was first reported by POLITICO. … House GOP leaders’ decision came via a vote of the so-called Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group — a five-member panel of House Republican and Democratic leaders tasked with setting the chamber’s positions in court.
The House speaker apparently isn’t embarrassed about the effort: The Louisiana Republican bragged about it on Fox News and CNN last night.
What’s more, Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia, who chairs the House Administration Committee’s oversight panel, is also reportedly moving forward with plans for a court filing that will claim that the Jan. 6 committee did not have the authority to conduct depositions — despite the fact that multiple federal courts have already come to the opposite conclusion.
Before digging in on the partisan gambit, let’s briefly review Bannon’s legal predicament, because it provides some necessary context.
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack sent Bannon a subpoena way back in September 2021. Even at the time, the seriousness was obvious: The podcaster was told that this was a legal summons — not a suggestion — and that failure to comply opened the door to meaningful legal consequences.
Bannon nevertheless refused to cooperate. The House then approved a resolution finding the GOP operative in contempt of Congress and referred the matter to the Justice Department, which indicted the former White House strategist. A jury later convicted Bannon — his lawyers struggled to present much of a defense — ultimately leading to his prison sentence, which was imposed by a Trump-appointed judge.
A few weeks ago, Rep. Thomas Massie endorsed a provocative idea: Maybe, the Kentucky Republican argued, the House could keep Bannon free by voting to “rescind” the subpoena that Bannon chose to ignore. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene threw her support behind the idea soon after.
As a rule, GOP leaders are supposed to shrug with indifference in response to weird ideas from their far-right flank, but it appears Johnson and his leadership team quickly got on board with the general idea of trying to rescue the podcaster, culminating in the Legal Advisory Group’s move. In theory, there’s no reason to assume the effort to provide Bannon with a get-out-of-jail-free card should work. Indeed, it’s a little late for the House Republican Conference to effectively declare in a court filing, “Never mind!” That said, the judiciary is certainly capable of delivering partisan surprises, and Politico’s report added, “It … remains to be seen what legal effect the position of House GOP leaders will have on Bannon’s fight.” Watch this space. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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