Legal AF by MeidasTouch - Bannon LOSES BIG in Appeals Court, PRISON TIME

Episode Date: May 10, 2024

In breaking news, MAGA podcaster and coup leader Steve Bannon has his CONVICTION AFFIRMED by the DC COURT OF APPEALS meaning he’s one step closer to serving time in prison. Michael Popok breaks down Judge Garcia’s unanimous decision for the Court rejecting all of Bannon’s legal arguments and predicts whether the Supreme Court will bail Bannon out. Head to https://TryFum.com/legalaf and get a FREE GIFT with the JOURNEY PACK today when you use code LEGALAF Visit https://meidastouch.com for more! Join us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/legalaf Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown Lights On with Jessica Denson: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/lights-on-with-jessica-denson On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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undertaking to register in Canada. So Michael Popak with a breaking legal AF hot take the judgment of conviction of Steve Bannon has been affirmed by the three judge panel of the DC Court of Appeals. That means we are one step closer to Steve Bannon serving his four months that he was sentenced to for willfully refusing to comply with a select committee on the Jan six committee, select committee subpoena to give testimony and to provide documents for a person who was a podcaster and not a presidential advisor at the time that he was subpoenaed. What does it all mean? We got a new ruling led by a three-judge panel written by Judge Brad Garcia, new to the bench, but with a

long history of having been a advocate at the United States Supreme Court and appointed by Joe Biden just a couple of years ago, but a shining star on the DC Court of Appeals could be in line one day for the United States Supreme Court. That Judge Garcia wrote the majority opinion in which he rejected completely Bannon's assertions that there needs to be firstly, in order to find him guilty of willfully refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena under 18 USC 192,

to comply with a congressional subpoena under 18 USC 192, Bannon tried to argue there needs to be a bad faith element to it, that the prosecutors have a heightened burden to show that he acted in bad faith and he tried to point to all sorts of evidence, primarily a inconclusive letter from Justin Clark, claiming to serve as a lawyer for then president Trump, telling Bannon that he should be careful because some

of what they're asking for at the Jan six committee may trigger executive privilege. But Donald Trump never made an appearance before the Jan six committee, never sent a letter exercising any type of executive privilege in order for that to be ripe to be litigated in the courts. Instead, Bannon waved around this inconclusive letter from Clark at best that said,

Trump wants you to be careful because some of what you may testify to or supply could be executive privilege. Well, Judge Garcia said, that's not enough. That doesn't give you, that doesn't show that you haven't technically violated, willfully violated a subpoena, properly propounded by the Jan 6 committee,

a congressional legislative committee. That's it. And they also declined the invitation by Bannon and ultimately by the trial judge, Judge Nichols, Carl Nichols, who while sentencing Bannon, told him if you take an appeal, which he now has and now has gotten the repeal rejected, or he's been on the wrong side of it,

he will suspend the sentence of four months in jail to allow you to do the appeal, mainly because it was back in 2022, and you see how long it's taken us to get to an appellate decision. He would have already served the time in jail in the two year, year and a half period. Now, of course, we've had to put up with Steve Bannon

bragging about that he's gonna win on his various podcasts. In fact, let's play a clip now of B ban on one of his podcasts, the war room, whatever it's called, bragging about this case. Look, lady, we're getting into the J six stuff. This one of the things we're talking about, Matt Rosendale is going to join us. We're going to get into the J six stuff and we're going to see how much you and folks in Congress pro protected the Republic and why your committee, the cover-up committee, why you didn't grill Ray, why he was never interviewed, all of it. It stinks to high heaven.

And you're gonna get your day, you're gonna get your, as we say in the Navy, your turn in the barrel, ma'am. Pete Well, he was wrong. He lost. And now, what's gonna happen next is that the invitation that And now what's gonna happen next is that the invitation that Bannon made to reject a precedent that had been on the books since the 1960s called Likavoli named after a case back then, which basically said all you need is a violation, a refusal to comply with a subpoena,

and you have a violation of the criminal statute. That's it, No other requirement. In fact, in order to overcome Likavoli, the Judge Garcia for the DC Court of Appeals 3 Judge Panel reminded him that in order to do that, since it was binding precedent, he'd have to show that Likovoli had been subsequently overturned by a United States Supreme Court decision in the last 55 years, which it had not been, or that an entire what we call en banc panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals had ruled something subsequently that undermined Likovoli. Neither of those two things had happened,

meaning that they, just like Judge Nichols, were bound by Likavoli to apply the law as it existed. We all, under the law, there's a fiction that we all know the law and need to follow the law. So Likavoli's been on the books for 55 years. Bannon's lawyers probably would have taken them, I don't know, one second to find that case to guide his conduct and behavior.

And for Bannon to then argue that we should put a new overlay of fine bad faith, and I don't have bad faith because I have advice of counsel. Some lawyer told me I didn't have to comply, which is untrue. Or the Trump's lawyer directed me not to comply, which is also untrue, which Judge Garcia went through. That's not what the letter says. There really was no defense at all to Bannon not supplying documents and or testifying

to the Gen 6 committee in response to those two subpoenas, which is why he has two criminal convictions against him. Now, what's gonna happen next? That's really, I think, why people come to Legal AF. You know what happened. Now I tell you what's gonna happen next. Have you heard that the flavored air category is quickly becoming the leading alternative to vaping and smoking?

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That's T-R-Y-F-U-M.com and use code LegalAF or scan the QR code on the screen to get a free gift with your order today. What's going to happen next is that I assume that the lawyer handling the case for Bannon, David Schein. David Schein was also the lawyer, you may remember, kind of a short little fellow who argued for Donald Trump at the impeachment hearing.

There were two lawyers, one of them was a shorter guy. That guy is the guy that's representing Bannon. David Schein, I assume, will try to take a, ask for the full en banc panel of the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit Court to hear this, but in order to do that, he's got to get a majority of the panel to want to hear the case. And to be frank, I doubt they will.

This 20 page decision by Judge Garcia is really airtight and waterproof. And I don't see them getting the 10 or 11 votes they need to pull the case up for a full embank re-argument because they're just dead right on the law and on the application of Likavoli. And unless they decide, well, we're gonna overturn that and we're gonna create new law and let Bannon be the

recipient and the beneficiary of the new law. I don't see that happening, which means once the en banc reconsideration happens, rejection happens over the next 60 days, 30 to 60 days, their last stop on the train for Bannon is to take an appeal to the United States Supreme Court. First stop on that train, Chief Justice Roberts, who sits over all things DC courts. He'll have to make a decision whether he on his own, which he's allowed to do, as the circuit judge that sits over that circuit,

or a reference to the full panel decides whether they're gonna allow this application, this writ of certiorari to change the law and to reject and to speak on at the Supreme Court level liquevoli. Now look, we have a lack of confidence, I guess that's an understatement there, in this United States Supreme Court. It is likely that there is at least four votes and then five votes to reconsider the Likivoli decision and create new law about legislative subpoenas and people responding to them with this MAGA right-wing Supreme Court.

I think it's 50-50 that they bring it up. So I just want to manage expectations, not blow smoke or sunshine. I think it's 50-50 that there's enough votes to establish new law and to add either a bad faith into the requirement or to try to change the contours of the Likavoli precedent that was applied here in the DC Court of Appeals against Bannon. But I also think there's a good argument that that law has been on the books for 50 or 60 years, although Lord knows this Supreme Court

has not had a problem ripping away a woman's right to choose as a constitutional fundamental right in 50 or 60 years. But I think when it comes to the branches of government and the three branches, I could see an argument for the United States Supreme Court, even MAGA right wing, staying out of this. That's why I say it's a 50-50. But in the meantime, Bannon stays out. He's a free man. He doesn't start his sentence. At this rate, I don't think we're going to see this sentence really start until well after the election when that issue would happen. We always have the issue, the problem of if Donald Trump and the restoration of his presidency

happens, he just pardons Bannon again. He pardoned him once. He would just pardon him again. He would never serve the four months. We all know that's what Bannon is banking on him. I'm sure he's been told point blank by Trump that he will be pardoned. How do we prevent that?

You know, follow the Midas Touch Network, free subscribe, get them to 3 million, follow Legal AF and vote, vote, vote come November 5 and make sure the right person, the reelection of Joe Biden happens. And then all this stuff that I'm talking about now will just be conjectural and speculative and we won't have to worry about it. We follow it all on Legal AF, our podcast, the intersection of law and politics. Join me

and Karen Freeman at Knitfelo on Wednesdays, me and my co-founder Ben Misalas on Saturdays, and then on hot takes like this one, I don't know, about every hour right here on the Midas Touch Network. So until my next hot take, until my next Legal AF, this is Michael Popak reporting. Heary, heary, Legal AF Law Breakdown is now in session. Go beyond the headlines and get a deep dive into the important legal concepts you need to know and we discuss every day on Legal AF.

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