A federal judge has sentenced for Trump advisor Steve Bannon to four months in prison and a $6,500 fine for defying subpoenas from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol riot.
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Federal prosecutors had sought a six-month sentence for Bannon and a $200,000 fine, while Bannon’s team pushed for probation. Judge Carl Nichols, a district judge for Washington D.C, delivered the sentence on Friday, Reuters reported.
Bannon was found guilty of two counts of criminal contempt in a Washington D.C. federal court in July. During the trial he had argued that he couldn’t comply with the subpoenas from the Democrat-controlled congressional committee because former President Donald Trump had executive privilege over the documents and testimony the committee sought.
Nichols, who was appointed to his current judgeship by Trump, said Bannon “has expressed no remorse” for his defiance of the congressional committee.
Reuters reported Sarah Lynch tweeted, “I am in court for Steve Bannon’s sentencing. Judge Nichols so far agrees with most of the government’s arguments, and says Bannon will not receive any reductions for acceptance of responsibility. Bannon ‘has expressed no remorse,’ Nichols says.”
Bannon had served as chief executive of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and worked as a White House strategic and political advisor to Trump until August of 2017. Though Bannon had left the White House almost three and a half years before the Jan. 6, 2021 capitol riot, he had continued to be a vocal supporter of Trump.
The congressional committee — which is comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6 riot — sought Bannon’s records and testimony about any role he played in riot.
In the days leading up the the Jan. 6 riot, Trump had called on his supporters to rally in D.C. as dozens of Republican lawmakers signaled they would challenge certification of the 2020 election results.
According to the Jan. 6 committee’s subpoena, Bannon was present at the Willard Hotel in Washington D.C. on Jan. 5, 2021 as part of a meeting to persuade members of congress to challenge the certification election results the next day. The committee’s subpoena also quoted Bannon as having said “”[a]ll hell is going to break loose tomorrow” during the meeting.
