Steve Bannon Is Looking At Prison Time. Mark Meadows May Be Next.

     Steve Bannon is a joke. This felon who scammed America with his fundraiser to "build the wall" and went to prison got pardoned by Donald Trump only to face state charges in New York. An early adviser to the twice-impeached, one-term former president and failed blogger, Bannon fell out of favor with the Great Pumpkin in 2017 before returning as an informal adviser to the two-time electoral loser at the end of 2020. Bannon is the host of a little-known podcast, and he happened to be talking about Latino support for President Trump while MSNBC announced some news in the background: Bannon had been indicted by the Department of Justice for contempt of Congress.

     Bannon was involved in planning the insurrection on January 6th. The January 6th Committee, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers tasked with investigating the attack on America's Capitol, held Bannon in contempt in October after he refused to comply with a subpoena to testify before them, and the full House of Representatives voted to do the same. It took almost a month, but Bannon has now been formally charged by the DOJ and faces up to two years in prison (he was charged with two counts and faces up to a year for each count) and a fine of $100,000. While he will likely not serve nearly as long, and, while, this move will likely only be the start of a legal process that could take many months, it is a stern warning to anyone who decides to violate the law. 

     Which is where Mark Meadows comes in. Trump's chief of staff during the final year of his presidency, he was called to testify in the first round of subpoenas alongside Bannon. He refused to show up, using the ridiculous claim of executive privilege alongside Steve Bannon (while the executive privilege claim for both is ridiculous, it is, to be fair, even more so for Bannon, as he held no official position in the White House) just yesterday, which, ironically, was the same day Bannon was indicted. Now that Bannon has been indicted, the same may happen for Meadows.

     While the potential of jail time for former Trump advisers seems exciting for the most vindictive people, including myself, what is more significant is that it appears the majority of people who have received subpoenas actually intend to comply, and the indictment of Bannon and potential indictment of Meadows should serve as a stern warning. One way or another, we are beginning to see and will continue to see justice for January 6th.