Welcome back to the third installment of the Columbia Bugle’s Sunday Newsletter. This week we will focus on the persecution of the MAGA Movement, including the trial and conviction of Steve Bannon and the Swamp’s two-tier justice system.
ATTENTION: COMING CALL TO ACTION
The Senate could vote on the House-passed H.R.8404 - Respect for Marriage Act as soon as this week. This bill would enshrine same-sex marriage in federal law and must be voted down if considered. Stay tuned for guidance on communicating this important issue to Senate offices.
(Note: Since these newsletters are long, Substack has indicated they may get cut off a bit when receiving them by email. If that happens, you can always access the full newsletter directly on Substack.)
In addition to Twitter, you can also follow us on Truth Social, Gettr, and Gab.
Table Of Contents
The Trial & Conviction Of Steve Bannon
The Biden Regime’s Crackdown on MAGA continued this week with the conviction of Steven K. Bannon.
Steve Bannon is the former Chief Strategist and Counselor to President Donald Trump and the host of the very popular podcast War Room.
On November 12, 2021 Bannon was indicted on two counts of “Contempt of Congress” for refusing a Congressional subpoena from the January 6th Committee.
These two charges were: “failing to appear for testimony” and “failure to produce documents.” Each charge carries with it a minimum of 1 month in prison and a maximum of 1 year in prison.
The January 6th Committee, which issued the subpoena, was formed and established under House Resolution 503. The vote passed with every single Democrat and two RINOs (Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney) voting yes.
Bannon’s arguments for not complying with the Congressional subpoena are as follows:
-Bannon Has Executive Privilege
-Committee Was Invalidly Formed
-Therefore Any Subpoena Is Also Invalid
Additionally, Bannon’s Defense pointed out the bias of January 6th Committee Staffer Kristen Amerling.
The defense argued that “the entire foundation of the government’s case” rested on the testimony of a biased January 6th Committee staffer named Kristen Amerling.
“You need to consider whether a witness has a friendship or hostility towards anybody connected with the case, that some something you need to consider,” Bannon lawyer Evan Corcoran said.
Corcoran told the jury that Amerling had a partisan interest in the outcome of the case. “She’s been doing committee work for Democrats for 20 years. She has a relationship with one of the prosecutors on the case, Mrs. Gaston. It goes back 15 years. She’s contributed her own money to Democratic causes.”
Earlier this month President Trump waived executive privilege for Steve Bannon and Bannon’s attorney notified the Committee that Bannon “is willing to, indeed prefers, to testify at your public hearing."
The January 6th Committee was unsatisfied and proceeded with their prosecution of Bannon.
The trial took place starting Monday of this week (July 18, 2022) in Washington DC, a city that voted over 92% for Joe Biden in 2020 and whose Left-Wing bias has made it very easy for DOJ to get convictions of Trump supporters.
The trial took less than a week, finishing up on Friday where the jury rendered a guilty verdict for Bannon on both charges.
Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon was found guilty by a DC court of contempt of Congress after defying a subpoena from the House's January 6 committee. Bannon had pleaded not guilty to the charges. He faces a minimum sentence of 30 days in jail. Sentencing will take place on October 21.
Bannon's conviction sets new precedent for the House January 6 Committee's congressional power to subpoena documents.
Here Is The U.S. Attorney’s Office Announcing The Guilty Verdict
Steve Bannon’s Response To The Guilty Verdict
Some Reactions Online To Steve Bannon’s Guilty Verdict
Tucker Carlson’s Monologue On Steve Bannon’s Guilty Verdict
The hallmark of any authoritarian regime is politicized justice. Under that system, your opponents go to jail, your supporters can do whatever they want and this reveals that the state exists not to serve the people who live in it, but to preserve itself and to crush all dissent. Hate to think we've reached a point anywhere near that here in the United States because there's nothing worse than that or scarier or harder to fix, but in fact, we have reached that point. That's where we are.
Later That Night Steve Bannon Joined Tucker Carlson To Respond To His Guilty Verdict
Steve Bannon
I will never back off. I support Trump and the Constitution & I'm not backing off one inch. If I go to jail, so be it” "People have to understand, right now this is an ideological war & we can not lose. The fate of the country is over the next couple of years.
Here Are Some Links To Legal Analysis On The Trial And Conviction Of Steve Bannon
I think it’s very likely that this conviction will be reversed at some point.
There is a major legal error that happened in this case and that is Steven Bannon was not allowed to present evidence that President Trump asserted Executive Privilege in this case, that precluded Bannon from cooperating with the January 6th Commission.
Viva Frei’s The Post Millennial Series Called “The Trial Of Steve Bannon”
Steve Bannon isn’t the only former Trump official being persecuted by the January 6th Committee. Many have been subpoenaed and harassed by that committee, here are a few of them.
Republicans must never forget the humiliation and cruelty of the completely lawless show trial that is the January 6th Committee. There may be limited options until we take back the White House in 2025, but at the very least Republicans must pursue a real January 6th Committee to investigate and expose what really happened that day.
The Persecution Of The MAGA Movement
The Biden Regime is wielding every weapon at their disposal to crush the MAGA Movement that had the audacity to challenge their rule and vote Donald Trump into the Presidency in 2016. The Regime has never forgiven Americans for that insolence and they are pursuing a merciless vendetta against them.
Tucker Carlson Highlighted Some Examples In His Monologue In Late June
The Prosecution Of Douglas Mackey Over Memes From 2016
Tucker Carlson highlighted the Regime’s Crackdown on Trump supporters in his documentary series Patriot Purge (Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3).
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene Released A Report On The Brutal Treatment Of The January 6th Political Prisoners: "Unusually Cruel: An Eyewitness Report From The DC Jail."
Julie Kelly’s Testimony Before The House Judiciary Committee
Several January 6th Political Prisoners have even committed suicide, including Mark Aungst this week.
Matthew Perna also committed suicide earlier this year.
Julie Kelly summed it up in her piece in American Greatness.
Matthew Perna was failed by the country he loved.
We must never forget the January 6th Political Prisoners.
The Swamp’s Leniency For The Colbert 9 & Michael Sussman
While Trump Officials and Trump Supporters are having the book thrown at them, allies of the Regime are let off.
This was on full display with the release of the “Colbert 9.”
These 9 staffers for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” were arrested on June 16th for illegally entering House office building after hours.
Julie Kelly joined Tucker Carlson that week to react to the Colbert Insurrection
Julie discussed in her piece in American Greatness how the “Colbert 9” were let into the building and what they were doing.
News reports indicate the crew had the run of the place with the blessing of none other than Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), a member of the January 6 select committee. Capitol Police finally arrested the interlopers around 8:30 p.m. on Thursday night near the office of Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), a frequent target of the Left, in the Longworth building and charged them with illegal entry. (Colbert’s thugs the day before harassed the family members and lawyers for January 6 detainees during a press conference on Capitol Hill.)
Colbert’s gang has already been far luckier than those ensnared in the government’s abusive prosecution of Capitol trespassers. None has been subjected to predawn raids by dozens of armed FBI agents using SWAT vehicles to bash down the front doors of political dissidents. By all appearances, they were booked and released early Friday morning.
But in a surprise to nobody, the “Colbert 9” had all of their charges dropped.
Statement From The U.S. Attorney’s Office
After a comprehensive review of all of the evidence and the relevant legal authority, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia has determined that it cannot move forward with misdemeanor charges of unlawful entry against the nine individuals who were arrested on June 16, 2022 at the Longworth Office Building. The individuals, who entered the building on two separate occasions, were invited by Congressional staffers to enter the building in each instance and were never asked to leave by the staffers who invited them, though, members of the group had been told at various points by the U.S. Capitol Police that they were supposed to have an escort. The Office would be required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that these invited guests were guilty of the crime of unlawful entry because their escort chose to leave them unattended. We do not believe it is probable that the Office would be able to obtain and sustain convictions on these charges. The defendants no longer will be required to appear for a scheduled hearing in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on July 20, 2022.
Ned Ryun Joined Jesse Watters To Discuss
Julie Kelly Provided A Recap
Colbert’s thugs unlawfully entered not one but three Capitol buildings on June 16. Members of the group lied to law enforcement, defied police orders, attempted to obstruct an official proceeding of Congress, intended to harass and intimidate lawmakers, and frightened congressional staffers. As I explained here, those offenses are much worse than the overwhelming majority of charges leveled against January 6 protesters by the same office that not only dropped the sole count against the Colbert Nine but declined to bring additional charges.
Another example is the acquittal of Michael Sussman. Techno Fog does an excellent breakdown of this case in their substack.
After the verdict was announced, the jury’s forewoman held court before the media and expressed her displeasure that the Special Counsel prosecute a false statement case: “There are bigger things that affect the nation than a possible lie to the FBI.”
This juror was never impartial - despite her assurance to the judge.
On the facts, the evidence was more than sufficient to prove Sussmann’s guilt. Sussmann lied to then-FBI general counsel James Baker via text message in order to get a meeting to pass the Alfa Bank hoax materials to the FBI.
Sussmann lied again during the meeting – stating he was not there on behalf of a client – in order to get the FBI to open an investigation into the Trump Organization’s purported ties with Alfa Bank.
Sussmann’s lies helped trigger the FBI’s investigation into the Trump/Alfa hoax.
What’s happening to Steve Bannon and the MAGA Movement is disgraceful and a bitter reminder that the Swamp protects their own. They have returned to power with a vengeance seeking to crush the Americans responsible for denying them complete power over America during the Trump Presidency.
We must not waver and we must never forget.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Columbia Bugle to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.