Steve Bannon prepping appeals, calls on GOP to focus on winning so they can impeach Garland
Reps. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and Liz Cheney of Wyoming lead the committee.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon joined Fox News for his first interview since being sentenced to four months in prison for contempt, after he defied a subpoena from Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson and the House January 6 Committee.
"The whole Justice Department under Merrick Garland has become radically partisan. And I think that after we win on November 8 to deliver this crushing blow against the Democratic Party; this regime, Tucker, I strongly believe you'll see Merrick Garland impeached next year by the new Congress," Bannon predicted.
Host Tucker Carlson prefaced his interview by saying Bannon "had nothing to do with January 6" and committed no crimes related to the Capitol Riot that day.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Norfolk, Va., native underlined that he does not expect nor does he explicitly want a concerted Republican defense of him following the sentencing.
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Former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon speaks with the media at the end of the opening day of his trial on contempt of Congress charges. On Friday, a federal judge denied his request for a new trial after he was convicted in July. (Reuters/Michael A. McCoy)
Bannon said that instead, Republicans should focus on winning the midterm elections decisively so that they can go about deconstructing biased sectors of the bureaucracy that are engaging in heavy-handed, politically-motivated behavior.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"There's no substitute for victory. We have a very good opportunity here to shatter the Democratic Party as a national political institution – from school boards to state legislatures to attorney general secretaries of state to take the House by 40 or 50 seats and maybe take the Senate by four or five seats," he said.
"To me, elected officials right now should just focus on winning – and winning with the biggest wave we can. I can do this myself with my lawyers. I don't need Republicans having my back. What I want Republicans to do is in the new Congress focus on cleaning at the rat's nest at DOJ and clean out the rat's nest at the FBI."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Steve Bannon, chief White House strategist to President Donald Trump, left, and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus stand in the East Room of the White House. (The Associated Press)
Carlson went on to cite House Judiciary Committee member Matt Gaetz's, R-Fla., response to the sentencing – in which the Pensacola lawmaker said U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew M. Graves – who prosecuted Bannon – appeared to be a "partisan Democrat."
"He was on Joe Biden's domestic policy committee in the 2020 campaign and worked for other Democratic campaigns," Carlson said.
According to Graves' nomination questionnaire, the Reading, Pa., native "briefly assisted" with vice presidential vetting for 2004 presidential nominee John Kerry – who ultimately chose then-North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. Graves also served on the advance-team for the Clinton-Gore 1996 campaign.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}JEB BUSH SAYS EDUCATION DECLINE HARMING US POSTURE, TELLS TRUMP ‘BLESS HIS HEART’
Attorney General Merrick Garland is sworn in during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing examining the Department of Justice on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021. (Tom Brenner/Pool via AP) (Tom Brenner/Pool via AP)
Bannon said America is not a "free [country] right now" and that FBI raids on pro-life civilians peacefully holding sit-ins at abortion centers and Justice Department targeting of parents offering countering viewpoints at school board meetings is illustrative of that.
"That's why I'm a big believer in defund[ing] the FBI – use the appropriations process to defund both these apparatuses until they come to the table."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I think the only way you're going to do it is you got to start at the top. We got to impeach [FBI Director Chris] Wray and we've got to impeach Merrick Garland after full investigations."
Bannon suggested Garland could be impeached and removed from office based on the administration's refusal to enforce federal law at the Mexican border.
Republicans have also considered investigating other Biden-linked individuals before a potential GOP-led legislature, including Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and First Son Robert Hunter Biden.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bannon offered respect toward Judge Carl Nichols, the Trump appointee who sentenced him, saying his own legal team is working hard on multifaceted appeals involving use-of-attorney, separation-of-powers, executive privilege and the "structure" of the January 6 Committee itself.
Critics have questioned the latter aspect due to the fact there is no formal ranking member – Republican in this case – appointed by the sitting Minority Leader.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., pulled his full slate of appointees after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., refused to seat two of them – Reps. James Banks of Indiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio.
The Republicans on the committee, Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, were not McCarthy appointees.
"This is an unbridgeable gap,' Bannon later concluded. "You have the Republicans and the MAGA forces on one side, you have these radical Democrats and the other – this is not rule of law, it's like a banana republic. You can't compromise on this. There's no substitute for victory. We have to win massively on the 8th."