Former (albeit short-lived) Trump administration White House chief strategist and staunchly devout MAGA ally Steve Bannon has become notorious for his mouthy, dramatic defiance. To the point now that anytime you see his face on the TV, or a piece of reporting about the loyal Trump supporter, you already know that it’s going to be the single most obnoxious thing you’ll witness all day.
Until now, anyway…
Bannon’s typical obnoxious rhetoric and behavior went by the wayside this week and was apparently traded in for a new flavor of dramatic flair — this time of the pathetic, groveling nature — when the staunch Trump ally and multi-time criminal found out that prosecutors are pushing for him to receive a “top end” prison sentence from the court in relation to his summer conviction on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress, following his unwavering and dramatic refusal to comply with a subpoena issued against him by the January 6th House Select Committee in their ongoing investigation into the Capitol attack, and the role of Bannon’s Dear Leader Donald Trump in the deadly violence that took place that day.
In a brutal sentencing memo submitted on Monday, the United States Department of Justice called on the court to issue a $200,000 fine and six months prison sentence against Steve Bannon, who was previously pardoned by Donald Trump on separate federal fraud-related charges.
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Bannon has consistently made a public mockery out of himself as he’s raged against the subpoena as well as the contempt charges and dramatically vowed to turn the case into “the misdemeanor from hell.” DOJ prosecutors cited Bannon’s bombastic rhetoric in their sentencing recommendation, including the Trump ally’s public and outlandish vows to “go medieval” on his enemies and even going so far as to compare the legal proceedings to a “Moscow show trial of the 1930s.”
Despite his grandiose rantings, as he now faces the brutal trial and the very real prospect of half a year in a prison cell, Steve Bannon is tucking his tail between his legs. In their response to the Justice Department’s sentencing recommendation memo, Bannon’s legal team took a cowardly approach to their client’s defense, essentially attempting to blame Steve’s lawyers for the course of action he’s taken, and all but getting down on their knees to beg the court to take it easy on the criminal Trump ally:
Should a person who has spent a lifetime listening to experts – as a naval officer, investment banker, corporate executive, and Presidential advisor – be jailed for relying on the advice of his lawyers?”
Of course, what would a defense for a Trump ally even be without Bannon’s team also throwing in that their client’s close proximity to the now defunct Trump White House should further serve to shield him from any repercussions of failing to comply with the Congressional subpoena?
Now, mind you, Bannon was actually one of the many short-lived officials in the former guy’s administration, only serving as a senior advisor to Trump until August 2017, when he was dismissed from his position.
Suffice it to say, federal investigators and prosecutors couldn’t give a rat’s rear-end about Bannon’s short-lived connection to the former guy’s presidential administration.
The DOJ’s court filing reads:
Mr. Bannon was a top advisor to President Donald J. Trump. On July 22, 2022, a jury convicted him on two counts of Contempt of Congress under 2 U.S.C. § 192 for his non-compliance with a congressional subpoena for documents and testimony over which President Trump asserted executive privilege. Prosecutions under 2 U.S.C. § 192 are rare. Even rarer are convictions of former top Presidential advisors for Contempt of Congress – this may be the first.
For his sustained, bad-faith contempt of Congress, the Defendant should be sentenced to six months imprisonment — the top end of the Sentencing Guidelines’ range — and fined $200,000 — based on his insistence on paying the maximum fine rather than cooperate with the Probation Office’s routine pre-sentencing financial investigation.
The rioters who overran the Capitol on January 6 did not just attack a building – they assaulted the rule of law upon which this country was built and through which it endures. By flouting the Select Committee’s subpoena and its authority, the Defendant exacerbated that assault.”
I think it’s certainly safe to say that, as he’s faced with the real music, Bannon’s true, cowardly colors are shining brighter than ever before.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
