OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Could the heads of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice have to face charges themselves?
Former President Donald Trump’s former advisor Steve Bannon believes that not only can they but they will.
Bannon excoriated both on his “War Room” podcast as he took aim at the January 6 congressional hearings that aired in primetime.
“I think we’re going to get criminal charges against [FBI Director Christopher] Wray and [U.S. Attorney General Merrick] Garland and all of those hacks over there,” the host said.
“They’re inundated with whistleblowers from the FBI. Patriots, hard-working patriots are blowing these guys up,” he said. “Thousands of whistleblowers. Thousands. Let me underline that .. on the maleficence and politicization of the America Gestapo, the FBI.
“I don’t care if the FBI doesn’t like it. You’re a Gestapo, you’re an American Gestapo. You’re going to be taken apart brick by brick. Whether we need a federal agency like that, that’s for people to decide. But you are going to be deconstructed. Because the rot that you have, and we should have done it after 9-11, let’s be honest,” the host said.
And as for the primetime hearings, they were a failure by ratings standards.
The ratings are in and, despite being on CNN, MSNBC and just about every major network the hearings only garnered around 20 million viewers, Just The News reported.
Almost 20 million viewers tuned in for the hearings on Thursday night, according to The Hill. By contrast, President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in March pulled in 38 million viewers. In 2018, then-President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union attracted over 45 million, per the New York Post.
The 20 million figure did stand above a typical congressional hearing, The Hill noted, citing the roughly 9 million viewers for Trump’s first impeachment trial.
But considering that it was on virtually every network and in primetime those numbers are disappointing.
And it comes as one of the heads of the committee received more disappointing news.
Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney may have had her big moment on television during the primetime January 6 hearings, but that is an island of good news in a sea of news that could spell the end of her career.
She was live on Thursday night rehashing the January 6, 2021 incident at the Capitol but at the same time, she has to deal with the fact that her primary opponent, back by former President Donald Trump, Harriet Hageman is now ahead of Rep. Cheney by double digits.
A microscopic 28 percent of Wyoming voters say they would vote for Cheney, a new poll from Fabrizio, Lee & Associates showed, The Daily Mail reported.
“The survey of 400 likely Republican primary voters in the deep red state shows that 56 percent would vote for Trump-backed candidate Harriet Hageman over the incumbent if the election were held today,” it said.
The 28 points that divide them falls well outside the 4.9 percent margin of error for the poll taken June 1 and 2 that was released this week.
Even less respondents had a favorable view of their current at-large congresswoman in the U.S. House of Representative – with just 26 viewing her favorably and a whopping 73 percent having an unfavorable opinion of Cheney.
When former President Trump backed Hagerman in the Fall he said she “is running against warmonger and disloyal Republican” Cheney.
“Harriet is a fourth-generation daughter of Wyoming, a very successful attorney, and has the support and respect of a truly great U.S. Senator, Wyoming’s own Cynthia Lummis,” Trump continued.
“Harriet Hageman adores the Great State of Wyoming, is strong on Crime and Borders, powerfully supports the Second Amendment, loves our Military and our Vets, and will fight for Election Integrity and Energy Independence (which [President Joe] Biden has already given up),” he added.
“Unlike RINO Liz Cheney, Harriet is all in for America First. Harriet has my Complete and Total Endorsement in replacing the Democrats’ number one provider of sound bites, Liz Cheney. Make America Great Again!” the former president concluded.
