THE WAR ROOM WITH STEPHEN K. BANNON (EP. 5165)

Summary

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The War Room with Stephen K. Bannon – Episode 5165

Date: February 24, 2026

Podcast: Real America’s Voice (iHeartPodcasts)

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Episode Overview

This episode of The War Room dives into the turbulent state of American politics on the eve of President Trump's first State of the Union in his second term. Host Stephen K. Bannon is joined by Cleta Mitchell, Pat McCrory, Mike Davis, and others to discuss the transformations within the Republican Party, the ongoing legacy and controversies of Trumpism, deep divides in the nation over issues like election integrity, legal battles, media narratives, and foreign policy, especially regarding Iran and the Middle East. The episode is marked by Bannon’s signature combative style and is rich in behind-the-scenes insight, inter-party conflicts, and deep skepticism toward mainstream institutions.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The State of the Republican Party & MAGA’s Legacy

• Pat McCrory’s Take on the GOP (00:10)

  • McCrory recalls not wearing a MAGA hat during the campaign, expressing confusion over its meaning and criticizing both sides for "name calling and immaturity."
  • "This is a populist movement... we need to get people who can work together during crisis," he states, lamenting the current divisiveness in politics.

  "We've got to get back to statesman like behavior. And I'm scared to death at... what's going to be said at the podium and what the reaction is going to be because it's everything that goes against my instincts of why I got into public service."
  — Pat McCrory (00:19)

  • Bannon’s Response:
    Bannon forcefully calls McCrory out for distancing himself from Trump and losing his reelection, accusing him of hypocrisy and emphasizing Trump's role in North Carolina's Republican resurgence.

• Discussion on Tribal Politics & Language

  • Slogans like MAGA/RINO criticized for lacking meaning (McCrory, 00:10).
  • Bannon: “Let me be blunt, brother. You are a bald-face liar... North Carolinians stood up and we won. And Pat McCrory lost the governorship because he’s so feckless and hapless and did not embrace President Trump.” (11:40, 47:44)

2. The Democrat Rebuttal and Partisan Theater

• Democrats Prepare a Counter-Event (04:19)
  • Democrats announce their own event to rebut Trump’s State of the Union, confident they’ll draw a bigger crowd.
  • Central complaint: Trump is “torching the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution.”
  • “We're supposed to sit there and respect his opportunity to speak to us?” — Democratic Politician (03:58)
  • State of the Union viewed as a flashpoint for both parties.

3. Trump as a ‘Unique Threat to Constitutional Government’

• Reflections on Trump’s Second Term (05:47)

  • Cleta Mitchell revisits whether Trump is a “unique threat”; Bannon agrees, referencing the events surrounding January 6 and ongoing distrust in elections.

  “That’s a unique virus in the American body politic. And if you create the capacity, the tendency to denounce elections simply because you don’t like the result, no American president’s done that... But in 2020, we had an American president who... decided to sow distrust in the system. And that continues to be something... to be dealing with.”
  — Stephen K. Bannon (06:12)

4. Foreign Policy, the Middle East & Iran

• Ambiguity and Danger in U.S. Posture (08:17)
  • Military analysts point out the risks of a strategy-less military buildup in the region, posing questions about true policy objectives.
  • “We've got a real disconnect between our means and our ends. Congress isn't holding hearings about it, the President's not explaining it, and here we are. This is a crisis of choice.” — Military Analyst (08:17)

5. Legal Wars: The Jones Day Controversy

• Trump vs. His Former Law Firm (20:06, 22:30)

  • Mike Davis highlights ethical and legal concerns with Jones Day, the law firm that represented Trump in his first term, now representing JP Morgan against Trump in a major “de-banking” lawsuit.
  • Davis:

    “If you're representing President Trump as a law firm... you have his confidential information. You're on a very dangerous, treacherous path as a law firm if you are taking clients adverse to that.” (21:30)

  • Discussion of legal ethics, conflicts of interest, and the chilling effect major law firms are said to have on hiring top conservative talent for Trump’s second term Justice Department.

• Barrier to Staffing DOJ

  • Bannon and Davis claim big law signals that serving in Trump’s term will end one’s legal career in “respectable” firms.

    “They try to kill Trump... smother Trump in January 2021... They tried to bankrupt him before they tried to imprison him, before they tried to assassinate him.”
    — Stephen K. Bannon (18:32)

6. Deep State, Election Integrity & Georgia Legal Battles

• Cleta Mitchell on DOJ’s Challenges and Willpower (31:38)

  • Debate between Bannon and Mitchell: Is DOJ’s problem a lack of talent or a lack of will? Mitchell asserts it’s the absence of the “killer instinct,” not just a pipeline problem.
  • Ongoing legal fights in Georgia highlighted as crucial (“…to the bottom of the 2020 steal”).
  • DOJ’s recent legal filings met with approval from Mitchell, though she is sharply critical of judicial culture in Georgia.

  “I have a huge amount of respect for John Sauer. He's a true, he's a true conservative, true MAGA conservative and a great lawyer.”
  — Cleta Mitchell (37:26)

7. The Save America Act & Senate Tactics

• Letter to John Thune, Senate Maneuvering (39:54)

  • 80 organizations, led by Cleta Mitchell, demand Senator Thune use Senate procedures to force Democrats into a talking filibuster over election reforms, not kill it with procedural closure votes.
  • Details on how House-to-Senate vehicle bills can be fast-tracked to the floor.
  • Priority issues: voter ID, mail-in ballot reform, cleaning voter rolls.

  “We want him to know... Just saying they're going to vote for the bill, that's huge... But now we want them to make the Democrats actually engage in the talking filibuster... then the bill can be considered with 51 votes and passed.” — Cleta Mitchell (45:50)

• Bannon frames the Senate GOP as lacking courage and being complicit in stalling MAGA’s legislative aims.

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On the Left and Populism:
  “Maybe there’s a reason for the populist movement because the left went too far left and some of its rhetoric and there’s pushback against it.”
  — Pat McCrory (00:10)

• On Legal Betrayal:
  “I would say to Jones Day... you have plenty of business. You may want to... make sure you're not even close to crossing that ethical line.”
  — Mike Davis (22:31)

• On Hope:
  “I don’t use the word hope anymore. There is no hope. ...We will vanquish, we will get rid of this guy [Trump].”
  — Democratic Commentator (09:17)

• Bannon on the Information War:
  “This is the primal scream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies. Cuz we're going medieval on these people... but you’re not going to stop it. It’s going to happen.”
  — Stephen K. Bannon (10:31)

• On Justice Department Staffing:
  “The problem I see is that I worry they don’t have the will... killer instinct. And that’s... you cannot push a rope.”
  — Cleta Mitchell (35:17)

• On Georgia Legal Fight:
  “There’s something in the water down there. And who knows what this judge will do?... these judges... it’s a problem.”
  — Cleta Mitchell (37:57)

• On McCrory and MAGA:
  “You got your ass kicked and Trump won your state. And he couldn’t even drag you across the line. … Then he begged for a job. What a beauty.”
  — Stephen K. Bannon (48:46)

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Timed Segment Highlights

• 00:04 – Pat McCrory opens on the fate of GOP and MAGA
• 03:58 – Democrats prepping their own counter State of the Union event
• 05:47 – Bannon interrogated about Trump’s threat to constitutional government
• 08:17 – Military analysis on U.S. lack of strategy in the Middle East
• 10:31 – Bannon’s rally cry “primal scream of a dying regime”
• 20:36 – Mike Davis on Jones Day conflict of interest in Trump lawsuit
• 31:38 – Cleta Mitchell debates talent vs. will in DOJ with Bannon
• 39:54 – The Save America Act and Senate procedure expose
• 47:04 – Replay and dissection of McCrory’s MSNBC comments

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Conclusion

This War Room episode explores not only the high drama around the Trump presidency's ongoing impact but also reveals fault lines within the GOP, the conservative movement's deep distrust of establishment institutions (legal, political, and media), and the growing stakes in battles over election integrity and legal ethics. Bannon and guests offer a no-holds-barred, behind-the-scenes view into both the MAGA movement’s grievances and strategies, while openly clashing with both Democratic and old-guard Republican voices.

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For more:

• Cleta Mitchell: electionintegritynetwork.org, X: @CletaMitchell, @EIWatchdogs
• Mike Davis: article3project.org, X: @mrddmia

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This summary covers the core content and key exchanges, skipping over advertisements, sponsor mentions, and introductory/outro statements.

Transcript

[Stephen K. Bannon]

This is an iHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.

[Cleta Mitchell]

Is the pre Trump Republican Party gone,

[News Reporter]

never to be revived?

[Cleta Mitchell]

Governor

[Pat McCrory]

No, I think we've had these streaks of populism never to this example over personality. But this is a populist movement and maybe there's a reason for the populist movement because the left went too far left and some of its rhetoric and there's pushback against it. But, but you know, when I was on the campaign trail as governor with President elect Trump or the candidate Trump, I never wore a MAGA hat because I never know what it meant. I don't listen. When I was governor and mayor, I never let anybody use slogans around me because I think slogans don't say anything and we still use the term MAGA without understanding what it is. Just like I was subtly called a rhino and I still don't know what a rhino is. But it's the terms flung out there so easily and this name calling and immaturity on both sides of the aisle. It's just got to end. We've got to get back to statesman like behavior. And I'm scared to death at the tomorrow night, Tuesday night on both what's going to be said at the podium and what the reaction is going to be because it's everything that goes against my instincts of why I got into public service first as a city council member who had to deal with snowstorms as a mayor. And we need to get people who can work together during crisis, whether it be a riot or a snowstorm or a foreign policy issue which we're having right now.

[News Reporter]

On the Middle East, According to the Wall Street Journal, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Kaine, and other Pentagon officials have been warning of the consequences should the United States decide to carry out either strikes or an extended military campaign in Iran, officials told the Journal. All options carry risks, but a prolonged campaign in particular could incur significant costs to U.S. forces and munitions stockpiles, complicating the protection of regional partners if Iran is able to retaliate. President Trump posted a lengthy message to social media denying that General Kaine had raised any concern, saying everything that has been written about a potential war with Iran has been written incorrectly. He goes on to say he would, quote, rather have a deal than not with Iran.

[News Reporter 2]

News is now reporting that the office of Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, has decided to stop pursuing the case against those six Democratic lawmakers who urged members of the military to not comply with UN unlawful orders. That's according to three people familiar with the matter. The news comes roughly two weeks after a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. unanimously rejected an attempt by Pirro to indict the lawmakers over that video.

[Democratic Politician]

This is not a moment for Democrats to be good little boys and good little girls and sit there on the House floor and fold their hands over and be nice and quiet and listen to the president. We keep hearing, you know, let the president have his opportunity to speak freely. The man who is torching the first 10amendments to the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the man who is trying to suppress our freedom of speech. We're supposed to sit there and respect his opportunity to speak to us?

[Stephen K. Bannon]

No.

[Democratic Politician]

So we decided to host this event to speak before Donald Trump, to speak during Donald Trump, to speak after Donald Trump. We will pre but rebut and rebut again his State of the Union remarks. And guess what? I've got news for Donald Trump. With how many Democrats I am seeing on these phone messages are defecting from the chamber, I am now confident at the National Press club@the defiance.org event, we will have more people at that rebuttal than Donald Trump will have in front of him on the House floor.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Guess what?

[Democratic Politician]

Donald Trump by crowd size is bigger than your crowds.

[Cleta Mitchell]

At that time, you warned that President Trump was a unique threat to constitutional government. You also said that you hoped you would be proven wrong.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Absolutely.

[Cleta Mitchell]

Thirteen months into Donald Trump's second term as president, how do you reflect on that sentiment?

[Stephen K. Bannon]

I haven't been proven completely wrong, but we're still here. And so I'm delighted.

[Cleta Mitchell]

Is he still a unique threat to Constitution?

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Absolutely, he is. Because what you saw, I thought in 2016-2020 that he was a difference of degree, but not kind. He was, you know, you could recognize what he was doing, not the tone and the behavior. That's totally unique and what was then. But basically you could sort of put it on an American spectrum, what he was doing. Then comes the unfolding January 6, the attempt to undermine the election. And that's a unique virus in the American body politic. And if you create the capacity, the tendency to denounce elections simply because you don't like the result, no American president's done that. Andrew Jackson didn't do it in 1824. Richard Nixon didn't do it in 1960. Hubert Humphrey didn't do it in 1968. Al Gore didn't do it in 2000. Secretary Clinton didn't do it in 2016. But in 2020, we had an American president who, because he didn't like what the system produced, decided to sow distrust in the system. And that continues to be something that I think we're going to be dealing with. I hope we don't in the midterm, but I think it's something to watch carefully.

[Democratic Commentator]

State of lunacy. This should never be happening in this country. This guy should never, never even have been. Have been allowed to run for president. He's in unqualified, period. We all know that. So we're dealing with a. With a fool, a clown who's brought the rest of the circus into the White House. So we're dealing with it.

[Military Analyst]

Available. We got a big problem here. We've amassed an enormous armada in the region, except we've got an armada in search of a strategy. What is this about? Are we trying to bring about regime change? Really demanding, as General Kaine essentially has pointed out. Is it to go after their ballistic missile inventory, which the Israelis want to go after? The nuclear capabilities? Well, I thought those were obliterated. And those seem to be getting negotiated to go after the proxies. They don't offer a good target. So we've got a real disconnect between our means and our ends. Congress isn't holding hearings about it, the President's not explaining it, and here we are. This is a crisis of choice. We're on the cusp of a war of choice. History suggests to be really, really careful. That's what people ought to be thinking here.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

What gives you hope when you see

[Pat McCrory]

a moment like tomorrow night?

[Stephen K. Bannon]

And what comes after that as we

[Pat McCrory]

begin the election cycle for the control

[Stephen K. Bannon]

of our House and our Senate, the Congress starting next Tuesday night when primaries begin.

[News Reporter]

Yes.

[Democratic Commentator]

I don't use the word hope anymore. There is no hope. I hope with Mullen, I hope with this, I hope in voting, I hope with that. We're. We're done with hope. It's about getting rid of this idiot, period. And we all know what it is. Getting rid of him. And the independents or whoever, whatever. Voters realize that this is not their guy.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Hello.

[Democratic Commentator]

Finally you realize that, because the guy's the biggest con artist ever, that there's ever. I mean, this is a joke that we're even talking about him. He should have been out of the running one, you know, years ago, and thanks to Mitch McConnell, who saved him in the second impeachment. You know, it's. It's a joke. And Mitch McConnell will have to live that for the rest of his life knowing how he allowed this fool to actually try to maybe topple our government. And we, I don't, I don't want to use the word hope because it can't be hope. We will vanquish, we will get rid of this guy. But it's, it's, it's, it's mind boggling.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

This is the primal scream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies. Cuz we're going medieval on these people. You're just not got a free shot. All these networks lying about the people, the people have had a belly full of it. I know you don't like hearing that. I know you try to do everything in the world to stop that, but you're not going to stop it. It's going to happen. And where do people like that go to share the big lie? MAGA media. I wish in my soul, I wish that any of these people had a conscience. Ask yourself, what is my task and what is my purpose? If that answer is to save my country, this country will be saved. War room here's your host, Stephen K. Ban. It's Tuesday the 24th of February, the year of our Lord 2026. It is the State of the Union. President Trump's first State of the Union in his second term. All day coverage here in real America's Voice. So when I say all day coverage through and run up to it, then the coverage during the actual State of the Union itself and then analysis afterwards and tomorrow because this is President Trump's one shot to actually address the nation, right? He may do specials from the as occasion arises on topics of interest from the Oval or other places, but this is where the whole nation and there should be a pretty, a pretty big audience of this. The Democrats already losing their minds. They're having counter and we're going to be covering some of that. Seven o' clock I think they're at the National Press Club. They're also going to be in the mall. They've completely lost it. Totally unhinged. You saw Robert De Niro. This is the reason there's been three assassination attempts. Three assassination attempts we actually know of. There's others that have been thwarted earlier, but three that have actually got to the place of actually taking action. And all three of those President Trump shot in one of them. Only by the grace of divine providence is he still alive and with us almost shot at the golf club. And then very confusing. I don't know how this whole excuse that the employee gate was open. They slipped in. It's not the north entrance because I didn't even know there was a north entrance because of this hate put on by not just the media, but the entertainment industry, the cultural, sports, all of it just completely unloading on President Trump every day, not a political discussion, but that he's a danger to the nation and must be taken out. Cleta Mitchell is gonna join me. We're gonna take a short commercial break here. I wanna thank my excellent team here at the war room and of course the RAV team in Denver for putting that together, these cold opens because I get it from the engine room and others I know during the cold opens your heads are blowing up as they're supposed to because in the information war, you see what we're up against every day, daily. When we come back, Cleta is from the great state of North Carolina and we're going to talk. She's here to talk about a letter they sent to John Thune on the Save America act. Also her work in Georgia as we have this huge hearing on Friday and we must, must, must get to the bottom of the 2020 steel. And we're going to do it in Georgia. But also I'm going to talk about the opening clip you saw there from Pat McCrory, the former governor of the Tar Heel State. Let me be blunt, brother. You are a bald face liar, a bald faced liar. President Trump, with the help of Mark Meadows and other great folks down there in 2016, we pulled north Carolina out, I think by a point, point and a half. That was a state I was most concerned about as running the campaign. The Carolinians stood up, North Carolinians stood up and we won. And Pat McCrory lost the governorship because he's so feckless and hapless and did not embrace President Trump. And then he came around and begged on his knees, begged for a job. He's got the gall to sit there and talk about populism and President Trump. And this is on msnbc. Bruce Springsteen, just to top it off in the A block, Bruce Spring is going to take you out. Cleta Mitchell will bring you back in in the war room. When you're a pro, you gotta do a little bit of everything. A little, a little and even a little. And it helps to have something that works as hard as you do. That's why Valspar has durable, high coverage. Paint for every job, every time made for more Valspar pros. Head to Lowes today and talk to a pro rep about saving time and money on your next job with Valspar. Signature paint exclusions apply. See valsparpro.com for details. Here's Your host, Stephen K. Ban. Okay, I'm a, I want to take our time with this North Carolina and the Cleta situation and so Cleta is going to join us in a second. Just hang on. And the reason is I want to slip Mike Davis in here because I want to lay the predicate when you hear the State of the Union tonight, we're going to show you the hyena Democrats. We're going to show you they're going to be the national press club, I think 25 senators or something not showing up and a bunch of crazy and in the, in the room itself they're going to be hooting and Holland trying to shout him down. But the, the biggest problem is, is like Caesar and Rome. It's the, it's the people around, it's the people around him and the, these rhino Republicans like the McCrory's. Mike Davis is here. Mike, you got to help me out here. I, I don't understand this and this is a huge deal because it happened to me, but that's not why it's a huge deal. It happened to so many, but particularly the President United States. So the President of the United States people have to understand, go back to what Meacham said, what Meacham said in the cold open and maybe I play that again with Hoover. Their term of art now is the unfolding J6 the unfolding J6 and what they mean by that is everything Cleta Mitchell and the team are doing in Georgia, what the team in Maricopa county is doing, what the team in Pennsylvania is doing to show that the 2020 election could not be certified, impossible to be certified and therefore we've gotten kicked to the House of Representatives and Donald Trump would have been reelected President. Now through divine providence, we all know that it was better that we had those years in the wilderness to kind of build up the forces, both the precinct strategy on one hand and all the think tanks and CRA and all that on the other and that the Mike Davis is of the world and all these people who were kind of unknown in the first term could kind of rise to become major elite huge leaders of this party. Now what is happening is they're already having a fight to try to divide up the carcass. Post Trump there ain't gonna be any post Trump. They're not gonna be any post Trump. And so they're doing this non stop. One of the things they're doing is that Mike Davis, you gotta help me out here. President Trump was debanked. Now you're Talking guy, a billionaire with financial obligations on his private business that he hadn't touched in four years as president. Okay. He's got loans everywhere, he's highly leveraged. Why? Because he's a real estate guy. The real estate business is predicated upon leverage. That's why President Trump feels pretty comfortable with the leverage we have now and negotiating tariff deals, et cetera. Cuz he understands how to use leverage. JP Morgan debanked him immediately and so he sued him for $5 billion of harm and charges. And I should also note, JP Morgan has lied about this consistently for years and years and years. Jamie Dimon and that lovely crowd over there at JP Morgan. So President Trump sued him. And so it's shocking enough that a major financial institution would debank a President Mike Davis a week after he left the White House. This is how they try to kill Trump. This is how they try to smother Trump in January 2021. And the folks in this audience that were there understood how we had to have his back to return because they tried to bankrupt him before they tried to imprison him, before they tried to assassinate him, if you notice the scale that goes up. But Mike Davis, in this entire thing, the central law firm, and Davis knows this is better than anybody because Davis was working on the confirmations, the confirmations at the Supreme Court. Mike Davis was behind the scenes working for Grassley. Mike Davis was the number one guy for these confirmations and particularly then went to work for Gorsuch, but particularly for Kavanaugh, which hung by a thread. There was a meeting that hung by a thread and Mike Davis and Bill and these guys dug in hard. And ladies and gentlemen, that's how you got the opinion, the minority opinion that laid out the roadmap for tariffs that you will hear tonight in the State of the Union. If Kevin had gotten approved, you were not gonna get that. So Mike Davis, the law firm of Jones day, which Don McGahn was the White House counsel. Jones Day was essentially the law firm for the first Trump term. No, Francisco, correct me if I'm wrong. He's Solicitor General. You've got Don McGahn is the White House Counsel, which outside the Attorney General is the most powerful thing. I think he got, I don't know. 20 Jones Day partners in the administration, they're representing JP Morgan. Please tell me in modern America how this works, how a law firm that was your law firm and had all these government, from Solicitor General to the White House counsel, is taking the side of JP Morgan to oppose President Trump's suit. Like, in what world does that work, sir?

[Mike Davis]

You know, I've been around Washington for a long time, Steve, and I don't get shocked by anything. This, this one shocked me. My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe that Jones Day was going to be adverse to Donald Trump in any litigation matter, particularly on a litigation matter involving welfare against President Trump where JP Morgan tried to debunk him. Now, if you go look at the ABA Model Rules, Model Rule 1.9A, it says a lawyer who has formally represented a client in a matter shall not thereafter represent another client in the same or substantially related matter in which that person's interests are materially adverse to the interest of the former clients unless the former client gives informed consent confirmed in writing. I doubt President Trump would give informed consent to have Jones Day be adverse to him in the JP Morgan case. Maybe there was some sort of waiver in a prior legal representation. I just doubt it. And I guess the issue is when you're using, if you're representing President Trump as a law firm and you know his mindset, you know where his strengths and weaknesses are, you know how far he'll push or get pushed on negotiations and you have his confidential information, you're on a very dangerous, treacherous path as a law firm if you are taking clients adverse to that.

[Cleta Mitchell]

That clients.

[Mike Davis]

And so I would say to Jones Day this, you have plenty of clients, you have plenty of business. You may want to step back and think about this one to make sure that you're not even close to crossing that ethical line. I like Don McGahn a lot. I don't think Don's involved on this particular matter. I've heard that Noel Francisco maybe on this matter. Remember Noel Francisco was President Trump's Solicitor General of the United States.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Unbelievable.

[Mike Davis]

I mean, it's. Even if there's not a technical violation of Rule 1.9. This is idiotic on Jones Day's part to do that.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Hang on. Noel Francisco, which who I think did an incredible. And I'm not a lawyer, but I thought he did an incredible job as Solicitor General. If you look at Conway, Kellyanne Conway's husband, the guy that's so nuts and such a Trump hater that says I was a Trump supporter. He's now running for Congress. Thanks for jury nettles thing. One of the true haters. He wanted to be Solicitor General and somebody made the case. Hey, look, dude, I don't think you've ever are. You're an M and a lawyer. You've never argued in court. We need somebody they picked Francisco because he was so good. In what universe can Noel Francisco actually be listed on the team, be listed on the JP Morgan team? He was his solicitor general. Nobody knows more of the thinking of President Trump and kind of the negotiating style of President Trump and his mindset than a solicitor general, does it?

[Cleta Mitchell]

Yeah.

[Mike Davis]

I mean, this just looked really bad for Jones Day. Again, even if there's not a technical violation, and that is, that is very, very, very fact specific. It just looks bad. And the other problem is you have confidential information. So if they're using President Trump's confidential information that Jones Day obtained when President Trump was a client, you have problems not only under Rule 1.9, you have a problem under Rule 1.6, and under Rule 1.10, that conflict, if Jones Day has a conflict, it's imputed to every lawyer in the law firm. And so you're. I don't think you're going to be able to put up a Chinese wall in the law firm without President Trump's consent.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

His White House counsel, which folks should understand, the White House counsel is involved in everything. It's one of the most like OW director. It's one of those jobs a lot of people don't know, but it represents the office of the presidency, not an individual Office of Presidency. McGahn knows everything. And look, I like Don McGahn a lot and he gets crushed with a lot of things, but he did so much good work on the campaign and then in the early years. But, Mike, I want to pivot. I want to. Let's talk about. And I'd like to hold you through if we have to. Just a second break. We have to talk about a very dark secret that's the reality in this town, you see. And Cletus is going to be on here in a second. We were very concerned about this hearing or this trial in Georgia on Friday. It was not staffed properly. And it turns out they put some heavy guns over doj. But Judge Deneen, there's all these things. Judge Deneen can't go forward with the six traitors because. And it's because of staffing. We don't have enough bodies in Main justice. We only got 14 or 15 of the U.S. attorneys. You know, you're working every day to come up with names of people that can go. And the reason is the Joan Day. The Jones Days of the world have put the word out that if you work in Trump's second term and particularly work in Maine, just a U.S. attorney, your career in big law, big conservative law, is over. Sir, am I incorrect on that?

[Mike Davis]

Well, I don't know if Jones Day specifically has said that, but that's certainly what the word going around to these attorneys. But you know, frankly, if you have so called Republican or conservative attorneys who don't want to go serve because of that reason, then I don't want them to serve anyway because they're cowards and they're gonna, they're gonna out like these so called Republican attorneys always do when, when it, when it becomes, when it becomes heated. You want people who are bold and fearless in these jobs. You want the email bovees in these jobs and not the no Francisco.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Mike, we'll let you bounce. I know you're busy. We're article three. You're always coming in hot social media, particularly late at night, maybe after Mike's had an adult beverage or two. Where do they go?

[Mike Davis]

Sir, it's article three project.org article number three project.org and I don't drink and drive and I don't drink and tweet.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Okay, what's the Twitter, what's the Twitter feed?

[Mike Davis]

Oh, it's mrddmia M R D D MIA and thank you Steve.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Thank you sir for making that clear. We're going to talk to Cleta about the same topic and others including Georgia and John Thune next in the war room.

[Pat McCrory]

War room.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Here's your host, Stephen K. Ban. Okay, let me make sure nomenclature because we're talking too much inside Washington baseball. But this is important for this audience to understand. Jones Day is a massive international law firm. It's traditionally had a more of a conservative bent. So it's Jones Day. Just like Minette Phelps on the west coast or Wachtel Lipton on Wall street, the big M and A firm or Kirkland Ellis out in Chicago which is kind of Obama's was the Obama's. Obama's law firm. So Jones Day was essentially Cleta Mitchell bringing in here. Jones Day was basically the law firm. And this happens in a lot of administrations where you've got a kind of a lead law firm and a bunch of partners or people that want to be partners come into the government and these roles. White House Counsel is one. It's like Director of omb. These are the jobs that may not have be super high visibility but they are some of the most important jobs in the government. Solicitor General over in Main justice, the two super important. That is the office of Legal Counsel which writes the fairness opinions on all the executive orders to make sure the executive orders of constitutional will stand up against Supreme Court scrutiny. This is why in what they call the travel ban that Miller and I worked through and President Trump knew, he says, hey, this thing's gonna withstand the Supreme Court. We had an Office of Legal Counsel opinion and guess what? Hello. Besides what the media think lighting their hair and fire, it withstood it because Office of Legal Counsel did it. Solicitor General represents the government at the Supreme Court and is the trial lawyer that basically makes the case. John Sauer, who I think John did a very good job. And I think that's the opinion that Kavanaugh gave us the roadmap to how to really take and give Trump, President Trump really amazing powers and confirm those powers on tariffs. John Sauer from Missouri, who's done such a great job in working with President Trump in the years in the wilderness. John Sauer is the Solicitor General. These are major positions. Jones Day partner Noel Francisco, who I thought Noel did a great job as Solicitor General, was the partner there. He's now listed on the J.P. morgan team. You got Don McGahn's not listed, but Don McGahn, I just don't understand. I know the lawyers, particularly in D.C. are good about these conflicts, but Cleta. And here's the deeper problem. It's not just they're coming after President Trump with the law firm that represented the first term is that. But the audience wants Georgia done. They want to get, you know, not have the ballots go back. We want to perp walk Brennan and all the deep state. The thing that's holding us up is not the will and not the direction to get this done. It's basically having the legal talent to do it. I mean, Cleta and the folks down in Georgia right now that are working are not officially into the government because guess what? Main justice has very few people. And Emil Bovey went. Is now on an appeals court because they think Emil Bovey could be a guy that may be tapped for the Supreme Court. And that's a huge loss. You have very few people at Main Justice. We're basically hanging on by our fingertips over there. And I'm not trying to defend or make excuses for Pam Bondi, but here's a reality of Todd and Pam and that whole crew. They can't get a ton of talent in because the big legal community has said, no, if you're gonna work for the Trump term, we wanna represent corporate America. Right? And you're not gonna have a career here. So whether you want prep walks of the deep state or you wanna get to the bottom of what the CIA has been Doing. You wanna get to the bottom of all this, you need legal talent. Judge Jean is not somebody that throws in the towel easily. I think, and I'm not saying she's throwing the towel over there, I think it's fake news. But if it does have a scintilla of truth, it's because of the simple fact you don't. She doesn't have enough legal talent over there. Cleta Mitchell, thoughts?

[Cleta Mitchell]

Steve? You know I never disagree with you, I really never do, but I'm going to disagree with this.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Okay, good.

[Cleta Mitchell]

Because I've read, I've read too many of the papers that have been written by the lawyers that they have and, and doj and I'll give you an example. You know, Harmeet Dillon, the Civil Rights Division, they've sued all these states. I think they've sued 26 states for their voter rolls. Under the Civil Rights act federal statute, black letter law says that the Attorney General shall may request and shall be given black letter law shall be given any election records. Period. That's what it says. And it says that the Civil Rights act, it says that in the Federal Election Records Act. Okay, they sue all these states. You've got 27, 28 states that have refused to turn over their voter rolls. Yep. Well let me tell you an interesting little fact. One, I looked the other, I looked it up the other day. Of the 26 states that they have sued, 23 of those states belong to something called ERIC, the election registration Electronic Registration Information Clearinghouse. It is a left wing organization. It only exists not to clean voter rolls, but states pay money. It's actually quite brilliant on the part of the founder. And so you know what they do, all these states, 23 of those states belong to Eric and you know what they do? They turn over not just the voter rolls, but they turn over driver data that is forbidden under federal law to be turned over to any non governmental entity. And so you asked, I, I said why are you not arguing that these same states that refuse to follow the federal statute and turn over these documents, these, these records to the Attorney General as required by federal law. They say they, all these states say we're not going to turn over personal information.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

But hang on, because I'm pressed for time. What are you disagreeing with me about? That? I'm not saying there's not great talent at, at Main justice and with the 14 or 15 we've got. But if you hang on, if you look at the second and third ranks, call Main justice, talk to Todd, talk to in the office Of Pam, they'll tell you the number one thing they've got is that they can't get enough talent because people, because people are naturally hesitant and that's because of the big law firm. Are you disagreeing with that?

[Cleta Mitchell]

I am disagreeing with that. What I am saying is that they're not making the arguments they need to be making. I ask the question, why don't you go into court and say, you, Honor, they won't turn those things over to us, but they're turning them over to a left wing group. And you know what I was told? Oh, we're not allowed to make that argument. What? And then I see that they having to. They're defending that argument. The Justice Department. I mean, the problem I see is that I worry they don't have the will. What have they done to Ed Martin? Where's Ed Martin? He is a, he's brilliant. He's a fighter. They should be lifting him up. They are. You know, he's still getting along great with the President and all, but there's so much that they could have done.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

I see what you're just saying.

[Cleta Mitchell]

Yes, all of those people. He pardoned the electors, he pardoned the, the lawyers. He pardoned everybody. And do you know what they didn't do? Go look at the DOJ website, see if you can find the pardon letter that was prepared, the memo that explains why all of these, this could be done by the president.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

So you're saying your argument is not simply, it's not simply a lack of tal or that second and third tier talent. You're saying even at the top level, they don't have the will. And you've seen this. They don't have the killer instinct. Okay, okay.

[Cleta Mitchell]

Killer instinct. And that's, and I don't know, you, you cannot push a rope. What we used to say in Oklahoma. And, and there are a lot of ropes at the doj.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

But hang on, but let's go back. Hang on, let's go back to the matter at hand in. Because we were very concerned, as you remember, the last couple of weeks. This is why we had Harry McDougalan and other people in Georgia that were specialists in this case and knew it. We were quite concerned about this. You are happy with what they represented last week and filed. Okay, but let's, let's, let's go. And that's, and I, look, I agree with you. There's not enough going on. But my argument is not enough going on because they don't have the depth of talent. You're arguing that you don't think the political will and if that's the case then we'll send this clip to the president and make sure he has a chat with people cuz he's definitely got the will and is very focused on this and make sure he sees all your clips. So talk to me about let's talk before Thune because we're talking about lack of will there. Talk to me about Georgia. Are you happy with the government's response and the team that came together on the government's response and are we even going to trial on Friday or is the judge going to dismiss it?

[Cleta Mitchell]

Well, that's a really good question. Yes, I am very happy with the pleadings that they filed. They filed two papers in response to the the pleadings, the petition filed by the county commissioners and the board of Elections who don't even have custody and control the ballots and election materials. Those are under the custody and control of the court clerk. And so the first thing that the DOJ argued they did go in and I I've made a pest of myself to the point that buddy at DOJ finally said in response we said what is wrong with you, Khalida? I said what is wrong with me is I'm worried that you guys are not fight and I don't I want you to fight. So they have and I give them full credit, they brought in lawyers. They've had some people who are not even in the criminal division but who've stepped in to help them. And you mentioned John Sauer and others. I have a huge amount of respect for John Sauer. He's a true, he's a true conservative, true MAGA conservative and a great lawyer.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

So he's done I think, I think sour is fantastic. And I thought his arguments on the tariffs now, now. But let me ask you, given the overwhelming response because they put senior main justice people on this, given the overwhelming blowout of the water response, why is this even a thing? How come this judge is not dismissing it? It appears now we are gonna go to either hearing or you call it a trial on Friday. Correct? In Georgia this has not been shut down by the judge.

[Cleta Mitchell]

Not yet. But what happened was the Department of Justice came in and first they filed the response to they filed a really thorough response on the factual issues. And then they came in and filed another motion which was to say, hey, why are we even having this evidentiary hearing? This is highly unusual, totally improper. And so they really did come in and they asked the judge to cancel the evidentiary hearing and Made a very good pleading with lots and lots of. Of citations. I think the most hilarious or most ironic part is they cited the 11th Circuit case when President Trump had gone in, in the Mar A Lago Ray case and tried to get. Tried to do what the Fulton county plaintiffs are trying to do. And the 11th Circuit said, no, you can't do that. So they're fighting. So now the Department of Justice, Trump's Department of Justice, is citing that case as the reason why Fulton county can't have its way here, which I thought was pretty ironic. But, no, the Department of Justice has stepped up. They've done a really good job. But look, I've been, I've been reading these cases and orders and watching these judges, both state and federal, in Fulton County, Georgia, for five years. And I can just tell you that there's something in the water down there. And who knows what this judge will do? I have. You know, you just never know what these judges there. I don't know what's wrong with them, but it's a problem with a lot of.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Well, they're crooks. They're protecting a Republican apparatus that knows these things are being stolen and going along with it. Let me pivot and I'm gonna hold you through the break. Cause I gotta do. McCrory in North Carolina. This letter to John Thune. One of the reasons, I think if you could argue they got a lack of will over at justice, is the people that confirmed them have a real lack of will in the U.S. senate. Tell me about the letter you sent John Thune about the Save America Act.

[Cleta Mitchell]

Well, 80 organizations signed a letter to Jonathan, which was delivered yesterday. You can find it on EI Watchdogs, which is the Election Integrity Network, Twitter, X, Location, whatever. And basically, this third paragraph is the most important. It basically says to John Thune, look, here's one thing everybody needs to understand. We have been working really hard to educate ourselves and a few others leaders, anybody who wants to, about these Senate rules, because we want to know how it is that these senators utilize these rules to avoid voting, to avoid doing real work, to avoid legislating. And so when we passed, when Chippewa and Mike Lee came up with the idea of doing the Save America Act. And what they did was it was put into a bill that stripped out a bill that had already passed the Senate, a Rick Scott bill, and so took all the content out of it and put in it, put in that Senate vehicle, that bill, the content of the Save America Act. So now then it's gone back to the Senate from the House, not as a House bill, but as a Senate bill returning to the Senate, which means that then can call that up at any time and it can proceed to the immediate consideration, immediate vote.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Okay, 51 votes. Hang on for one second. We're going to come back and explain this to the audience of how this structure works to get Save America passed. State of the Union Day. We're covering it all day and through the night here in the war room and Real America's Voice. Here's your host, Stephen K. Band. Welcome back Birch gold to the 27th, which is Friday. Also, President Trump is coming to Texas. We're gonna cover that wall to wall. Also there's gonna be, I think a maha. Tony Lyon's gonna join us later at MAHA event in Austin on Thursday. We're gonna cover plus the state of the unit all night tonight. I'll be with you the entire time until we do a wrap up afterwards with analysis. I do believe the speech is not going to be short. So let's say that I think it'll, I think it'll clearly go through at least through an hour. President Trump, I think, is going to go through a detailed analysis of not just simply what he's accomplished, but why he's accomplished it and what it looks like going forward. This will be his chance to address the nation, his biggest chance to address the nation before the midterms traditionally. And like I said, he's coming here on, on, on Friday to Corpus Christi. We will cover that live. I think actually the event itself will be during our five o' clock show. So looking forward to doing that. I'm gonna get Cleta back up here in a second to the 27th. Also is the last day for birchgold.com you go to birchgold.com promo code Bannon end of the dollar empire. If you make a qualifying investment, you are eligible to get for free the Patriots edition of the End of the Dollar Empire, which has kind of become a thing because we started when gold was, I don't know, 1100 bucks an ounce and now it's over 5000. And we explained not what the price was going to be, but the process so you can get pattern recognition. And so many people have taken advantage of that. We want everybody to take advantage of it. So go there today. Birchgold.com, promo code Bannon Enter the Dollar Empire. The special for Birchgold ends on Friday. So you make contact with Philip Patrick and the team and they've now gone through a couple of printings of this the demand for the book, the hard copy edition, has been pretty overwhelming. So continue on, folks. Lita the Jonathan. Okay, is this just Senate voodoo? Are we playing the games of the kind of insiders talk to me about how is this legitimate? You can actually take a bill, strip it out, put this in as a Senate bill. And if that's the case, why is John Thune got him on. Why is he calling back today and pass the thing before President Trump's State of the Union? If you talk to the war room posse, if you talk to the base out there, we talk to just average Republicans. The priority of the Save America, because of the voter id, you know, these diminished requirements on mail in ballots, on cleaning up the voter rolls and particularly voter ID is top of mind. And people are infuriated with, they're furious with the Senate for not just going to a standing or talking filibuster which the President keeps passing. So if you've got this special magic, why are we not using the special magic, ma'?

[Mike Davis]

Am?

[Cleta Mitchell]

Well, because they're not used to. It's a two step process. I didn't quite finish the process. Sorry, I got, you know, to talk too much. But if he moves for a closure vote to go to 60 votes to cut off debate instead of having a filibuster, then that is, everybody just needs to know that, that is, he's intending intentionally killing the bill. He doesn't have to do that. This is a two step process. This step one, because of the weights come back from the House, it can go immediately to the floor on a motion to proceed. And it only takes 51 votes to do that. He's got those 51 votes. But then what happens is make them have the filibuster, make the Democrats come down and talk. And that's what they're afraid of. I mean, that's apparently what Thune is afraid of. And he has these other bills he wants to bring up, the farm bill, the highway bill. No, nothing. Yes, we need to get DHS reopened. We absolutely need to get that done. But this should be part of the negotiations. The, the motion to proceed allows this bill, the Save America act, to come to the floor.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Let's get, let's get the. Yeah, let's get, let's get the letter back up there. Grace, Moen, Elizabeth will push it out because we got the letter. Just what is the purpose of the letter? What do you guys hope these 80 groups, conservative groups come together? What do you hope to achieve? What is your purpose on this?

[Cleta Mitchell]

To make him understand that we know the drill. You talked about the insider games that they play in the Senate to keep from having to do anything. And we want him to know. We want all of our Republican senators to know that. Just saying they're going to vote for the bill, that's huge. And we appreciate it. But now we want them to make the Democrats actually engage in the talking. Filibuster. And they'll give out. They'll be exhausted after a few days or a week, and that's fine. And then, then, then when they quit talking, which they will at some point, then the bill can be considered with 51 votes and passed. But you've got to make the Democrats

[Stephen K. Bannon]

talk if we have 51 votes, because I think McConnell will work against it anyway. Hang on for a second. I want to play, you know, and I think the Hill newspaper today has an article talking about this coming together of these groups to basically say these are Republicans, that we're gonna wait out Trump and we're gonna retake the Republican Party. We're gonna get rid of maga, we're gonna get rid of the populist nationalists. All Trump's just a bad dream, a summer storm that's passing through. Let's play. Can we play McCrory again? Because this guy's a beauty. Let's play him dumping on President Trump on msnbc.

[Cleta Mitchell]

Is the pre Trump Republican Party gone, never to be revived, Governor?

[Pat McCrory]

No, I think we've had these streaks of populism, never to this example over a personality. But this is a populist movement. And maybe there's a reason for the populist movement because the left went too far left and some of its rhetoric and there was pushback against it. But, you know, when I was on the campaign trail as governor with President Elect Trump or the candidate Trump, I never wore a MAGA hat because I never know what it meant. I don't listen. When I was governor and mayor, I never let anybody use slogans around me because I think slogans don't say anything.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

And we still stop, full stop. He went around, folks, Listen, Trump went around and let this guy go. He was running for reelection in Carolina. President Trump pulled it out, I think, with a point, point five North Carolina and 16. And that's the one I was most concerned about. Meadows and his wife told us, early enough, we got this, that last 10 days, we could go focus on crashing the blue wall, which delivered the victory, the historic victory McCrory lost. He's bragging about not wearing a MAGA hat. You got your ass Kicked by Cooper. Dude, you're a bolt. And then he came. He came to Trump Tower and on his knees, begged for a job. I'm a populist. I so much believe in make America great again. President elect Trump is just amazing. This guy. What he knows. Cleta Mitchell. Where do people go get you, ma'. Am. We'll have you back on tomorrow as we run up to Georgia. How do people get you? Hold the story for Carolina. We'll do it tomorrow. What's your. What's your where your where. Where do people go at?

[Cleta Mitchell]

Cleta Mitchell. That's on X. And then our website go to election integritynetwork.org watch integrity network and go to EI watchdogs, which is our Twitter handle on apps.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

So, okay, let's get it all out there. Save those great stories. I'm gonna get you. I'm gonna get you tomorrow. Cleta Mitchell knows the inside baseball down there in Carolina. The gall of that guy to sit there and go, I didn't wear a MAGA hat when I'm campaigning. You got your ass kicked and Trump won your state. And he couldn't even drag you across the line. You were so. The people down there could not not stand you. Unbelievable. Then he begged for a job. What a beauty. Short break. Back in a moment. This is an I heart podcast.

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