Bannon lists targets for potential Trump probes while denying 'retribution'
Former senior Trump adviser Steve Bannon gave a list of people on Sunday that he believes former President Trump should go after if he is elected to a second term.
Bannon, who is set to report to prison Monday on contempt of Congress charges, said in an ABC “This Week” interview with Jonathan Karl that the media has overblown worries about “retribution” in a second Trump administration.
“If you haven’t done anything, you shouldn’t worry,” he said, “What we’re saying is we want justice. We want to have full investigations, and then if criminal charges come up, then criminal charges come up.”
Among those Bannon put on warning: former FBI Directors Andrew McCabe and James Comey, former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, former Attorney General Bill Barr and former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley.
“It’s justice,” Bannon said of investigating the men, some of whom were members of the first Trump administration and appointed by Trump himself.
"It's not retribution at all," he added, also shrugging off Trump's past promises to seek retribution for his supporters.
"Like he said last night on the debate stage, his retribution is a very successful, more successful second term," Bannon said of Trump.
Bannon will serve four months in prison for dodging a subpoena from the House Jan. 6 committee. Bannon avoided going to prison for months, only relenting after a last-second appeal to the Supreme Court was denied Friday.
“I'm a political prisoner,” Bannon said. “It won't change me. It will not suppress my voice. My voice will not be suppressed when I'm there.”
He told Karl that he has no regrets for refusing the committee’s subpoena.
“If it took me going to prison to finally get the House to start to move, to start to delegitimize the illegitimate J6 committee, then, hey, guess what, my going to prison is worth it,” Bannon said.
House leaders led by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced last week they will file a legal brief in support of Bannon’s appeal of his conviction in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The former Trump adviser was found guilty in 2022 on two counts of contempt of Congress after he refused to sit for an interview with the panel and hand over documents.