Bannon Warns Jan. 6 Panel

Convicted Trump ally says Republicans will investigate the Democratic investigators
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 23, 2022 1:25 PM CDT
Bannon Warns of Payback
Steve Bannon, right, leaves court Friday with his attorney David Schoen.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

After being found guilty of contempt of Congress on Friday, Steve Bannon went on Fox News to put Democratic lawmakers on notice of future retaliation. "We have to have a real Jan. 6 committee," Bannon told host Tucker Carlson, speaking of a Republican return to control of Congress. Bannon, who was briefly a White House strategist during President Trump's term, said a GOP-led committee would look into the House members investigating the attack on the Capitol to "see about the lies and misrepresentations they put on the national television to defame people," Business Insider reports.

Saying that Republicans will "govern on offense," Bannon told committee members they should save their documents for a wave of investigations. "Every committee in the House needs to be an oversight committee," he said. "We have to go after the Biden administration, which is illegitimate." Bannon told Carlson he's not worried about the possibility of being sent to jail, though each of the two counts he'll be sentenced on brings a term of 30 days to a year. He said he plans to appeal his conviction. Jan. 6 committee members called Bannon's conviction a "victory for the rule of law."

In the interview, Bannon repeated Republican talking points that have been found false. He said GOP committees would look into "what happened" to the National Guard during the attack; Trump supporters have said that the president asked for troops before Jan. 6 but that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blocked their deployment. There's no evidence of that, per PolitiFact, which notes the Guard reports only to the president. In calling the House committee illegitimate, Bannon said it has no ranking Republican. Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican, is vice chair, an arrangement cleared by a Trump-appointed federal judge, per the Washington Post. (More Jan. 6 hearings stories.)

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