Several journalists falsely tweeted that Stephen K. Bannon was found guilty of contempt of Congress Thursday afternoon in federal court in Washington, DC, before closing the debate in court on Friday morning.
MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell tweeted: “BANNON IS CRIMINAL.” His colleague Chris Hayes tweeted, “Bannon was found guilty,” citing CBS News Congressional Correspondent Scott McFarlane’s tweet covering a different case.
To avoid confusion with the previous post. Matthew Bledsoe was convicted of all charges in the January 6 trial. Conviction on 21 October.
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) 21 July 2022
by Kai Ryssdal market place warns others that they do not understand the facts:
All these Bannon judgment tweets… wrong.
— Kai Ryssdal (@kairyssdal) 21 July 2022
Bannon biographer Joshua Green did the same:
As the official Bannon expert™, I must point out that all tweets about “Bannon’s conviction” are false… the case has yet to go to a jury. Come back tomorrow! In the meantime if you need a Bannon fix: https://t.co/YMvm13QYkq
— Joshua Green (@JoshuaGreen) 21 July 2022
O’Donnell apologized for spreading misinformation about the decision, as did Hayes, who deleted his false tweets:
Too bad it wasn’t a Bannon decision. Bannon refused to testify or represent defense witnesses. Final discussions are tomorrow.
– Lawrence O’Donnell (@Lawrence) 21 July 2022
I am sad! Wrong case. Bannon isn’t back yet!
– Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) 21 July 2022
Others also apologized:
Excuse me! Wrong case: Bannon. THE SENTENCE IS NOT yet.
— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi_Buchman) 21 July 2022
Some, such as CBC’s Tom Harrington, Newsmax’s Alex Salvi, and CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla (at the time of this writing) simply deleted their tweets about Bannon’s conviction without any explanation.
Matt Ford’s New Republic He tweeted that his “sources” claimed Bannon would be found guilty; Later, he revealed that Russian collusion blogger Louise Mensch mocked a tweet that Bannon would be sentenced to death for espionage in 2017.
I did, but I don’t think many people remember Mensch’s tweet.
– Matt Ford (@fordm) 21 July 2022
On Thursday, the defense was heard without witnesses, seeking acquittal and arguing that the prosecution failed to prove that Bannon, a former White House and Trump campaign aide, despised Congress.
Defense attorney David Sean told reporters outside the courthouse that the judge prevented his client from making a full defense, preventing the defense from questioning the legality of the subpoena Bannon was accused of violating.
Bannon’s attorney, David Sean, speaks today. After the judge refused to defend in the case, “Bannon never got to tell his story.” pic.twitter.com/3qghRPuAU2
— Daniel Barnes (@dnlbrns) 21 July 2022
Bannon added his own comment, noting that he always testified before Congress whenever executive privilege was waived, which he said was not the case until recently.
Then he said, “I support Trump and the Constitution.”
Another Bannon speech in front of the DC federal courthouse. pic.twitter.com/vTPK83RDVM
— Jose Paglieri (@Jose_Paglieri) 21 July 2022
Bannon is also the former chairman of the board of Breitbart News.
Joel B. Pollack is Senior Editor and news anchor for Breitbart News News Sunday Breitbart Every Sunday night from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM ET (4:00 PM to 7:00 PM PT) on Sirius XM Patriot. He is the author of the recently published e-book Neither Free nor Fair: 2020 US Presidential Election. last book RED NOVEMBERtells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries from a conservative perspective. Won the 2018 Robert Novak Graduate Journalism Scholarship. follow him on twitter @joelpollak.
Source: Breitbart
