Ross: The person who really needs to testify about Jan. 6 riot isn’t Steve Bannon

Yesterday, House Democrats passed a measure to subpoena Steve Bannon, former Trump advisor, to testify about the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

CBS Correspondent Kris Van Cleave described what the January 6 committee is looking for, noting that he thinks it “is going to be disappointed, even if they get Bannon to testify.”

First of all, Bannon’s “War Room” is hardly a secret. That’s the title of his podcast.

And as for his now-famous comment on that podcast, the day before the insurrection …

“Listen – all hell is going to break loose tomorrow,” Bannon said. “Just understand this – all hell is going to break loose tomorrow.”

He said it.

But when I went back and listened to the podcast, I realized that remark was not referring to a physical attack on the Capitol. Here’s where we jump down the rabbit hole.

He was referring to a pair of tweets sent out by a capitol hill newspaper.

The first tweet, at 10:08 a.m. on Jan. 5, quoted Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley — the most senior Republican in Congress — as saying that Vice President Pence would not be presiding over the electoral vote after all, but that Grassley himself would! Because, Grassley tweeted, he didn’t expect Pence to be there.

Bannon instantly went into detective mode:

“We don’t expect him to be there,” he opined.

But a half hour later, another tweet popped up, where Grassley walked it back and says he was only talking about what might happen if Pence had to step away at some point.

And that got Bannon really excited.

“Buried lead — if Pence does not show, all hell is going to break loose,” he said.

That’s the context. There was no talk about an attack. What I hear is a podcaster playing to his conspiracy-minded audience.

I have no idea how much information Bannon might spill under oath. But after my little underground trip, I do find it little suspicious that Senator Grassley would tweet out that Pence wouldn’t be there, considering we know the demonstrators were, in fact, ready to “Hang Mike Pence.”

So, what I want to hear is what Senator Grassley would say under oath.

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