The work of the January 6th select committee has been controversial at best, (politically nefarious at worst), and the latest development in their case against former White House advisor Steve Bannon just took a bold turn.
Bannon, who refused to comply with a subpoena from the committee on the grounds that there hadn’t yet been a proper adjudication of the issue of executive privilege at the time he was summoned, has been convicted of contempt of Congress on account of his legal caution.
On Friday, his sentence was revealed.
Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, was sentenced Friday to serve four months behind bars after defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols allowed Bannon to stay free pending appeal and also imposed a fine of $6,500 as part of the sentence. Bannon was convicted in July of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to sit for a deposition and the other for refusing to provide documents.
Nichols handed down the sentence after saying the law was clear that contempt of Congress is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of at least one month behind bars. Bannon’s lawyers had argued the judge could’ve sentenced him to probation instead. Prosecutors had asked for Bannon to be sent to jail for six months.
And then, in what felt like a direct threat to the newly-subpoenaed former President Donald Trump:
“In my view, Mr. Bannon has not taken responsibility for his actions,” Nichols said before he imposed the sentence. “Others must be deterred from committing similar crimes.”
The Department of Justice had originally asked for a 6 month sentence for Bannon.
The political media provocateur has issued some tough talk on the subject of the committee in the past, and there’s no telling what sort of defiance is still to come.
