The Memo: Democrats may rue pursuit of Bannon | TheHill – The Hill

Democrats and other critics of former President TrumpDonald TrumpBiden sends 2016 climate treaty to Senate for ratification US, China ease restrictions on journalists Americans keep spending MORE celebrated when criminal charges were leveled againstStephen Bannon late last week.

But the political downside of the pursuit of Bannon is becoming clearer by the day.

Theres no guarantee that the underlying purpose of the prosecution to compel Bannon to cooperate with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection will work.

Bannon may ultimately prefer the risk of a fairly short jail sentence, and the martyrdom it would confer on him from Trump supporters, over testifying.

Even if he were to cooperate, the question then becomes whether the public will learn anything more damning than it already knows about Bannon and his former boss.

After all, Bannon said on his podcast the day before the riot that all hell is going to break loose tomorrow. And Trumps central role in inciting the insurrection was so blatant that he became the first president in American history to be impeached twice.

Above all, the criminal case has given Bannon the biggest platform he has enjoyed in years.

The news that he had been indicted on two counts of contempt of Congresson Friday was the lead story on the websites of The New York Times and other leading news organizations.

Bannons initial court appearance on Monday was another media circus, with network newscasts running footage of Trumps former chief White House strategist lambasting the prosecution and President BidenJoe BidenIdaho state House passes worker vaccine compensation bill Biden sends 2016 climate treaty to Senate for ratification Rubio vows to slow-walk Biden's China, Spain ambassador nominees MORE. Bannon live streamed his comments outside the court on the social network Gettr, a favorite among pro-Trump conservatives.

On Thursday, Bannon will get another bite of the publicity cherry if, as expected, he is formally arraigned.

Bannon revels in it. He loves it, said Allan Lichtman, a professor of history at American University, who compared the former Trump aides zeal for media attention to that of another associate of the former president, Roger StoneRoger Jason StoneThe Memo: Democrats may rue pursuit of Bannon DeSantis floats formation of police force to crack down on election crimes Stone says he'll run for Florida governor if DeSantis doesn't do audit MORE.

Bannons ardor for the spotlight is well known throughout Washington including among reporters who find him more personally engaging than his sinister public persona suggests.

He had seemed to be a marginalized figure after Trump disowned him back in early 2018 following the publication of a damaging book by the journalist Michael Wolff. But Bannon ultimately made his way back into Trumps good graces, conferring with him following the then-presidents election loss last year.

Now, in seeking to get details of what exactly was said between Trump and Bannon, the former aides adversaries have restored him to the center of the political stage. From there, he is sure to amplify Trump's fictions about election fraud, among other things.

But does all of that mean that Democrats and Merrick GarlandMerrick GarlandThe Memo: Democrats may rue pursuit of Bannon Unions sue in bid to represent Connecticut National Guard members Top Senate Democrat calls on attorney general to fire prisons chief MOREs Department of Justice (DOJ) are wrong tohave pressed the case against him?

Not necessarily.

The DOJ would presumably not pursue the case if it was not confident of conviction.Announcing the indictment, Garland said he was honoring a promise to "show the American people by word and deed that the department adheres to the rule of law."

Allowing Trump and Bannon together to thumb their noses at a congressional inquiry into the grave attack on the Capitol was simply unacceptable for most Democrats and many other Trump critics.

Reps. Bennie ThompsonBennie Gordon ThompsonThe Memo: Democrats may rue pursuit of Bannon Trump allies target Katko over infrastructure vote Meadows 'between a rock and a hard space' with Trump, Jan. 6 panel MORE (D-Miss.) and Liz CheneyElizabeth (Liz) Lynn CheneyThe Memo: Democrats may rue pursuit of Bannon House to vote Wednesday to censure Gosar, remove him from committees Gosar defends anime Ocasio-Cortez video to GOP MORE (R-Wyo.), the chairman and vice chairwoman of the Jan. 6 committee said in a statement that the indictment should send a clear signal to anyone who thinks they can ignore the Select Committee or try to stonewall our investigation: No one is above the law.

Some prominent Democrats were even more emphatic.

The indictment showed that even the insurrectionist allies of Donald Trump are not above the law and the American justice system is back in business, Rep. Jamie RaskinJamin (Jamie) Ben RaskinThe Memo: Democrats may rue pursuit of Bannon Subpoenas show Jan. 6 panel's focus on Trump's plans Overnight Energy & Environment Presented by American Clean Power Democrats prepare to grill oil execs MORE (D-Md.) tweeted.

Welcome back to the rule of law, Rep. Eric SwalwellEric Michael SwalwellThe Memo: Democrats may rue pursuit of Bannon Mo Brooks says he would 'be proud' if staff helped organize Jan. 6 rally GOP ekes out win in return of Congressional Baseball Game MORE (D-Calif.) tweeted as the news of Bannons indictment broke.

But, for Democrats, the problem is that the enemy Bannon and the GOP gets a votetoo.

In Bannons case, that means characteristically pugnacious rhetoric outside the courthouse about how he is taking down the Biden regime and how his criminal prosecution is going to be the misdemeanor from hell for Biden, Garland and others.

More substantively, the door is now open to future use of the same process by Republicans at whatever point they win back control of Congress an outcome that looks odds-on to happen a year from now.

Some Trump loyalists are already salivating at the prospect.

Joe Biden has eviscerated Executive Privilege, Rep. Jim JordanJames (Jim) Daniel JordanThe Memo: Democrats may rue pursuit of Bannon Meadows comes under growing Jan. 6 panel spotlight Sunday shows preview: Biden administration confronts inflation spike MORE (R-Ohio) tweeted on Friday.

Referring to key Biden aides, he added, There are a lot of Republicans eager to hear testimony from Ron KlainRon KlainThe Memo: Democrats may rue pursuit of Bannon Manchin uncertain Biden plan will address inflation Biden aides offer praise for Harris after critical CNN report MORE and Jake SullivanJake SullivanRubio vows to slow-walk Biden's China, Spain ambassador nominees The Memo: Democrats may rue pursuit of Bannon US, China get chance for cool-down with virtual summit MORE when we take back the House.

HouseRepublican Conference Chairwoman Elise StefanikElise Marie StefanikThe Memo: Democrats may rue pursuit of Bannon Virginia emerging as ground zero in battle for House majority Republicans look to education as winning issue after Virginia successes MORE (R-N.Y.) complained, also on Twitter, that during former President ObamaBarack Hussein ObamaBriahna Joy Gray: White House is setting Harris up to move past her The Memo: Democrats may rue pursuit of Bannon Biden's decision on Fed chair said to be 'imminent' MOREs time in office, both former Attorney General Eric HolderEric Himpton HolderThe Memo: Democrats may rue pursuit of Bannon Ben Affleck, Tracee Ellis Ross join anti-gerrymandering fundraiser with Clinton, Holder North Carolina legislature approves new US House map MORE and former IRS official Lois Lerner were held in contempt of Congress and no indictments or arrests were made.

Even some Republicans critical of Trump question whether the precedents currently being set will have bad consequences further down the line.

This is dangerous ground, said Rick Tyler, a GOP strategist who has been strongly critical of Trump for years. Its tit-for-tat. When you have power, you dont use it to govern, you use it to exact revenge from your political enemies.

Others,including Lichtman, counter by saying that Democrats need to show some determination in their pursuit of figuressuch as Bannon.

One of the failings of the Democrats is that they dont have much of a backbone, he said. Republicans are ruthless, they will do whatever it takes.

Democrats are trying to take a page from that playbook now.

But the risks are higher than they might have imagined.

The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage.

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The Memo: Democrats may rue pursuit of Bannon | TheHill - The Hill