Steven Bannon was sentenced to four months in a federal lockdown and a $6,500 fine for defying a Congressional subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee.
“Respect for Congress is of course an important piece of our Constitutional system,” U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols, a Trump appointee, said during the sentencing.
Earlier, Nichols had noted that Bannon “has expressed no remorse for his actions.”
Bannon, 68, was found guilty in July of contempt for ignoring the subpoena. The host of the “War Room” and a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump was convicted by a jury after a four-day trial on two counts, refusing to appear for a deposition and refusing to provide documents.
The judge allowed Bannon to remain free pending an appeal, The Associated Press reported.
Should his appeal fail, he would be the first person incarcerated for defying a congressional subpoena in more than half a century, according to The Washington Post.
He faced up to two years, but federal prosecutors sought a six-month sentence, arguing in their sentencing memo that “a person could have shown no greater contempt” than Bannon in his defiance of Congress, and they echoed a similar sentiment in court, Law & Crime reported.
Nichols during the sentencing noted that the law was clear that contempt of Congress was subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of at least one month behind bars, The AP said.
Bannon’s lawyers had asked for probation instead. Friday, they again argued that the former White House strategist did nothing wrong.
Bannon tried to use “executive privilege,” or the right for the White House to protect communications with the president, in his defense. But Bannon had left the administration in 2017 and was no longer working there on Jan. 6, 2021, and he was only allowed to argue that the deadlines to respond to the committee were starting points for negotiations, the Post reported.
Bannon did not speak during the sentencing hearing.
The Jan. 6 Committee wanted Bannon to testify about his involvement in Trump’s efforts to pressure Vice President Mike Pence and Republican lawmakers to overturn the 2020 presidential election. But he did not appear before the panel or provide any documents to the committee.
He had initially refused to appear when he was told that the couldn’t subpoena witnesses of his own, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The Jan. 6 committee has also subpoenaed Trump, asking the former president for testimony and documents.
At its last public hearing earlier this month, the Jan. 6 Committee played audio of Bannon saying Trump would declare victory in the election no matter what the outcome,” the Post reported. “That doesn’t mean he’s the winner. He’s just going to say he’s the winner,” Bannon told associates from China a few days before the election. “He’s going to sit right there and say they stole it … That’s our strategy.”
Separately, Bannon is facing trial in New York state court on allegations that he orchestrated a scheme to steal millions from donors who hoped to fund construction of a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
