Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon is warning that there will be consequences for prosecutors who put Donald Trump in courtrooms this election cycle, making it more difficult for the former president to campaign.
“Of course [Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg] should be, and will be, jailed,” Bannon told Axios, adding that he would like “investigations to include [Democrats’] media allies.”
Bragg brought the New York hush money case against Trump, which led to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee being convicted.
Bragg has come under fire from Bannon and pro-Trump associates for his handling of the case. The Washington Examiner reached out to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for comment.
Last week, Trump was found guilty after being charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal an alleged second crime that he had already committed. According to Jed Rubenfield, a professor of law at Yale University, the state of New York never committed itself to what the second crime was.
Rather, it theorized that the crime could have been a New York tax violation, a federal campaign finance violation, or a New York election law violation. During the trial, the prosecution narrowed the “second crime” to the third theory. While the New York election law violation is itself a two-part crime, meaning it depends in turn on the violation of another statute, the prosecution never clarified what the underlying statute was.
When Trump’s lawyers asked for more information about the second crime, Bragg denied it. Judge Juan Merchan upheld the decision, saying it was lawful for the state to have several theories about what the second crime was.
Legal experts say Trump’s best case for appeal would be to argue his Sixth Amendment rights under the Constitution were violated. Under the Sixth Amendment, every criminal defendant has the right to know the charges against him.
Bannon does not appear to have attached a Trump comeback to purely legal means. He has instead compared a Trump resurgence to “the evolution of any war — the Revolution,” adding, “They only get nastier over time.”
Bannon served in the Trump administration for seven months as a chief strategist before Trump reported he “was fired” from his role. The former president disavowed his former adviser in 2018, saying, “Steve doesn’t represent my base.”
After leaving the Trump White House, Bannon returned to Breitbart News, a controversial far-right news outlet of which he is the executive chairman.
After he refused to comply with the now-defunct House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, Bannon was found in contempt of Congress. Last month, a federal appeals court upheld Bannon’s conviction.
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Bannon could face up to four months in prison for his conviction. According to his attorney, David Schoen, jail time would only strengthen the MAGA base and reinforce the federal government’s “political agenda.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to Steve Bannon for comment.