Discussion: NYT: Mueller Subpoenas Steve Bannon In Russia Probe

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NYT: Mueller Subpoenas Steve Bannon In Russia Probe NYT: Mueller Subpoenas Steve Bannon In Russia Probe Back to article
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Get ready for some singing

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hehehehehe

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Life comes at you fast.

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So the question is, Why? Greg Sargent thinks it has to do with the Comey and Flynn firings and hence obstruction of justice. But would he need a subpoena to get him to testify on that? Josh notes that Bannon has always made a point of distancing himself from the Russia scandal. Still there is the role of Cambridge Analytica. I suspect this is the focus, though I suppose it could be wishful thinking.

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Three possibilities here:

  1. He is actually not cooperating.
  2. He wants to cooperate but needs to be subpoenaed so that the violent basejob crazies can see that he was “forced” to testify.
  3. Big indictment is about to drop.

My money is on “2.” Lawyers have to issue these kind of CYA subpoenas all the time–usually because there’s an NDA or an employment agreement with an “unless you’re subpoened” exception clause, so the witness can get out of work, or because the witness is scared of being seen to be cooperating.

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Probably the real reason the Mercers disowned him. They saw this coming.

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Well, before you get too excited, remember, the important questions are:

  1. How much did Bannon’s “distended and rock-hard” liver hear?; and,

  2. How much does it remember?

And, the last I heard, Bannon had only a minor role in the campaign and barely any at all in the White Hole House, so this may not mean all that much.

Kudos to the Special Counsel for waiting until the White Hole House and Bannon had a public falling out before issuing a subpoena.

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Trump: “Subpoena, what kind of word is that? Doesn’t sound American. No, no, ‘subpoenas’ are very, very bad. Really bad. They come from shithole countries like DACA.”

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Mueller subpoenas no one until he’s ready.

The heat is most definitely on.

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Agreed that 2 is most likely. Mueller runs a tight ship and this leakage of information would have to be strategic.

There’s a fourth possibility, however: he has already co-operated, but his grand jury testimony is nonetheless required.

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The possibilities you list do not appear to be mutually exclusive, at least, not entirely. And, my vote goes for #3:

I like that one best.

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So Mueller is just wasting his time? Unlikely.

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That is precisely what I heard, from the same source that pointed out that Bannon was only a minor player. I think it may be Jared Kushner’s Farther-In-Law that made the statement, I’m not sure I can recall. I do remember he was Orange.

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Or, “How Many Coffee Boys Does One Campaign Need?”

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It takes a lot of Coffee to #MAGA.

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Bannon may not have been around for the early campaign collusion, but he was in the box seat during the latter parts of the campaign and for the whole of transition, and will likely have personal knowledge of relevant discussions or actions. Worth remembering that ‘Fire and Fury’ did not really go into Trump-Russia. Bannon knows stuff Wolff didn’t get out of him. He is certainly in a position to contradict statements made by Kushner, Trump Jr to the feds and so a potentially key obstruction of justice witness.

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Bannon will probably take a hit for team Trump. He’s got nothing at this point - no platform, no patrons, and no powerful allies. This is his last chance back “in”.

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Yeah he doesn’t call witnesses to learn about unknown things from them - he knows the answers to the questions he will ask or he wouldn’t ask them.

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I see Bannon is already practicing for his 2-up mugshot photos.

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