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Fmr federal prosecutor whines about ‘miscarriage of justice’ because Bannon hasn’t been thrown in jail yet

February 10, 2024 | | Print Article

A former federal prosecutor’s zeal for Trump allies facing incarceration included a hefty amount of partisan bias in ascribing a “miscarriage of justice” to one commentator’s delayed prison sentence.

In 2022, former President Donald Trump’s one-time chief strategist Steve Bannon was found guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress having refused to submit to a subpoena issued by the since-defunct Jan. 6 committee. Now, as former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro is expected to report for his four-month sentence for the same conviction despite an ongoing appeal, former assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn Kirschner cried foul.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, the MSNBC legal analyst highlighted “an interesting disparity” between the two presidential allies that led him to conclude, “…I think it represents a real miscarriage of justice that Steve Bannon has been permitted to be out — out about — continuing to try to do what he can to undermine our democracy and Americans’ confidence in our voting systems.”

“There’s an interesting disparity in what’s happened to Navarro versus what happened to Bannon, because Bannon committed virtually the same crimes,” stated Kirschner in the video shared on social media with the caption, “Trump advisor, Peter Navarro, is headed to prison; will other Trump accomplices soon follow?”

“But Bannon is out, pending appeal. He hasn’t had to spend one minute behind bars, yet. So why is there this disparity in the way that two convicted defendants are being treated?” asked the former prosecutor.

“Well,” he argued, “the judge who presided over Peter Navarro’s case is a judge named Amit Mehta. He is a straight-up, fair, impartial, no-nonsense judge.”

Meanwhile, “Steve Bannon committed the same crimes, was convicted of the same offenses, was handed the same sentence, four months in prison, but the judge who presided over Steve Bannon’s trial is a guy named Carl Nichols. Guess who he was appointed by? He’s a Trump appointee.”

As Americans have become increasingly more concerned about the likelihood of a two-tiered justice system with Trump the most high-profile figure facing a perceived political persecution from the federal government, Kirschner’s outspoken favor to see America First proponents behind bars glossed over a key detail.

While he readily mentioned that U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols was appointed by Trump, he skipped over the fact that his peer, U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta, was appointed by then-President Barack Obama before being named to the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in 2021 during President Joe Biden’s administration.

Mehta was quoted saying during Navarro’s sentencing, which included a $9,500 fine — $3,000 more than Bannon’s —  “I guess what bothers me ultimately is that here we are after a year and a half plus and you still want to suggest to me that this is a political prosecution. You want me to believe this is a political prosecution. When the evidence is completely to the contrary.”

As had been pointed out at the time, Hunter Biden had also ignored a congressional subpoena without being met by the same pearl-clutching from the likes of Kirschner, who had previously stated that Trump deserved to be locked up before even facing a trial.

Kevin Haggerty
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