Justice has finally prevailed in this nation, as staunch Trump ally and former (albeit short-lived) Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has officially been sentenced to a total of four months in federal prison by a federal judge, following a conviction on charges of Contempt of Congress lodged against him by the January 6th House Select Committee.
Bannon was found guilty back in July on not one, but two charges of Contempt of Congress, for his open and dramatic defiance of a subpoena issued against him by investigators on the House panel that is currently investigating the infamous, deadly January 6th attack on the Capitol building and the congressional members inside.
Today’s brutal sentencing was handed down by federal Judge Carl Nichols who said during the ruling, “Flaunting congressional subpoenas betrays a lack of respect for the legislative branch.” In addition to the four-month federal prison sentence, Judge Nichols also imposed a fine of $6,500 against Bannon as part of his sentencing.
The January 6th House Select Committee first issued their subpoena against Bannon on September 23 of last year. The devout ally and longtime Trump political strategist was among the first batch of Trump insiders to be called to testify before the House Select Committee with regard to what took place in the days leading up to and during the now-infamous and fatally violent attack on the US Capitol on January 6th, 2020, at the hands of a mob of rabid Trump supporters who, acting on the then-president’s behalf, were attempting to overthrow Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election win over Donald Trump.
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
In their subpoena, the J6 Committee asserted that they had reason to believe Bannon has “information relevant to understand important activities that led to and informed the events at the Capitol.”
The J6 Panel specifically pointed to Bannon’s presence and participation during activities that took place the day before, focusing on a plot to block Congress’ certification of the 2020 Electoral College votes, where Bannon said: “All hell is going to break loose tomorrow.”
As part of his desperate attempts to staunch the bleeding of his former officials essentially turning on his to the Committee, Donald Trump tried to make a wide-reaching declaration of executive privilege that he tried to use to not only prevent his former aides and officials from testifying to the Panel, but also to prevent House investigators from accessing any documents from his administration.
Upon this declaration, Bannon used the notion of executive privilege as his excuse for refusing to comply with the congressional subpoena — until such a point where he felt that the question of his privilege had been resolved. A point that was never met to Bannon’s satisfaction.
The House ultimately voted on a resolution to refer contempt of Congress charges against Steve Bannon to the Department of Justice. Each count of Contempt of Congress carries a prison sentence ranging from one month to one year.
In a sentencing recommendation in the case against Bannon, DOJ officials called for a six-month sentence and a fine of $200,000 against the 68-year-old Trump ally, on the basis that Bannon repeatedly attempted to delay the proceedings by teasing the possibility of cooperation.
The Justice Department wrote that Bannon “has pursued a bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt.”
Read full reporting from the New York Times here.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
