Steve Bannon sentenced to four months in prison

Post Reply New Topic

A judge has sentenced former Trump political adviser Steve Bannon to 4 months incarceration and a $6,500 fine for criminal contempt of Congress. The judge says he's prepared to let Bannon remain free while he appeals his convictions as Bannon is unlikely to flee or pose a danger to the community.

Bannon flouted demands for documents and testimony from the panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Lawmakers on the House Select Committee wanted to know why he said a day before the siege that "all hell is going to break loose tomorrow."

Federal prosecutors were seeking what they describe as a "severe" penalty: six months in jail and a fine of $200,000. In court papers earlier this week, they said Bannon pursued "a bad faith strategy of defiance and contempt."

Bannon sat quietly and did not react as asked U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols delivered the sentence.

No one has been incarcerated for contempt of Congress in decades
The Justice Department took the unusual step of listing a series of bombastic and demeaning statements Bannon made about the justice system and lawmakers in their court filing.

He called House Select Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., "gutless" and said the panel is conducting a "show trial." Bannon used his podcast, which traffics in conspiracy theories, to target people he considered his political enemies.

Jan. 6 subpoena tracker: Here's who the House select committee wants to hear from
POLITICS
Jan. 6 subpoena tracker: Here's who the House select committee wants to hear from
Bannon refused to turn over even a single piece of paper to the Jan. 6 committee, and he also refused to cooperate with the probation office in advance of his sentencing, prosecutor J.P. Cooney wrote.

After his indictment last year, Bannon promised reporters, "this is going to be the misdemeanor from hell for Merrick Garland, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden."

Things didn't turn out that way. Bannon put on no defense during his trial in July and a jury took fewer than three hours to convict him.