Thread by @MuellerSheWrote

THREAD: There were major clues that dropped this weekend indicating DoJ is prepping to pursue a Bannon indictment for criminal contempt of congress that the MSM isn't talking about. 1/

Let's start back on 10/23 when multiple sources were reporting that DoJ might be hesitant to indict Bannon until a legislative purpose could be established for seeking Bannon's testimony in the first place. 2/

You'll recall that one of the main reasons trump listed for blocking the release of National Archives documents is that the January 6th committee doesn't have a legislative purpose. Now, WE know they do, but a court hasn't determined that yet 3/

You'll also recall trump has used the "legislative purpose" argument to successfully delay his tax returns & Mazars' documents from being handed over to congress. There was legislative purpose, but that didn't stop the cases from languishing in court 4/ lawfareblog.com/summary-suprem…

Interestingly, as we learned that NARA, the House, AND the DoJ filed to oppose trump's attempts to block the committee from receiving the documents, the committee ALSO began work on modifying legislation to clarify the electoral count process. 5/ cnn.com/2021/10/30/pol…

So In that article from CNN, they mention that the fact congress is now working on legislation gives legislative purpose to the committee where the national archives case is concerned. What they DON'T mention is that it ALSO gives legislative purpose to the Bannon case. 6/

In my original thread in the top post, I was concerned that a ruling on legislative purpose in the trump case might not provide a legislative purpose for Bannon's testimony, but CHECK THIS OUT. 7/

In the filing from DoJ supporting NARA against trump, Acting Assistant AG Boynton MENTIONS Bannon's role, thereby making his testimony relevant to the same legislative purpose in the trump case. 8/

So the combination of the DoJ filing in the trump case citing Bannon’s role, and the committee taking steps to draft legislation by modifying the electoral count act, it’s CLEAR to me that DoJ is going to move to indict Bannon. So when? 9/

When is hard to nail down because the last time this happened was 1983, so we don't exactly have an established pattern for the timeline on DoJ indictments for criminal contempt of congress. In the 1983 case, the indictment took 9 days. 10/

The DC USAO received the referral October 22, so we are on day 9. The DoJ may still wait for a ruling in the courts on the trump case, which now covers Bannon's testimony per the DoJ filing from the weekend. 11/

But the inclusion of Bannon in the trump filing has convinced me that whether they do it now, or wait for a court ruling in the NARA case, I believe DoJ is setting up the legal guardrails to indict Bannon. 12/

A parting note: anyone telling you that Garland is shielding trump in the coup attempt has now been proven incorrect. DoJ is FULLY backing Biden and the national archives against trump. I recommend you give the filing a read. END context-cdn.washingtonpost.com/notes/prod/def….