Trump ally Steve Bannon sentenced to 4 months in prison in contempt of Congress case
WASHINGTON – Former Trump White House strategist Steve Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison Friday, three months after his conviction on charges of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the special House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols granted a defense request that the flamboyant adviser to former President Donald Trump be allowed to remain free pending appeal.
The Justice Department had sought a six-month term for Bannon and recommended he pay a maximum fine of $200,000 for "his sustained, bad-faith."
"From the moment that the Defendant, Stephen K. Bannon, accepted service of a subpoena from the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol ... he has pursued a bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt," prosecutors said in court documents ahead of Friday's sentencing hearing.
On Friday, the judge recalled the violence of the Capitol attack and said the Jan. 6 committee had "every reason to investigate that day."
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"Others must be deterred from committing similar crimes," he said.
Bannon, who also was ordered to pay a $6,500 fine, left the courthouse after the ruling, but not before criticizing the Justice Department in front of a crowd of reporters.
"The American people are weighing and measuring what went on with the Justice Department," Bannon said, then referred to the coming midterm elections: "They will vote on Nov. 8."
But Bannon mostly remained silent during the hearing, telling the court only that "my lawyers have spoken for me."
His attorney, David Schoen, criticized the Jan. 6 committee, which held a series of high-profile hearings on its findings this year, as illegitimate and said Bannon tried to act within the law.
“Quite frankly, Mr. Bannon should make no apology. No American should make an apology for the way Mr. Bannon proceeded in this case," said Schoen, who later said Bannon has an appeal that is "bulletproof."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Cooney said Bannon "could not have committed a more malicious contempt of Congress" in defying the subpoena.
"Throughout this entire case, the defendant has tried to make it all about politics and retribution," he said. "This man, Stephen Bannon, should be treated like any other citizen."
More:Trump ally Steve Bannon found guilty of contempt for defying Jan. 6 committee subpoena
The House committee sought documents and testimony from the former Trump adviser, but Bannon "flouted the Committee’s authority and ignored the subpoena’s demands," prosecutors said.
"Throughout the pendency of this case, the Defendant has exploited his notoriety – through courthouse press conferences and his War Room podcast – to display to the public the source of his bad-faith refusal to comply with the Committee’s subpoena: a total disregard for government processes and the law," the government's filing said.
"Through his public platforms, the Defendant has used hyperbolic and sometimes violent rhetoric to disparage the Committee’s investigation, personally attack the Committee’s members, and ridicule the criminal justice system."
Bannon initially refused to comply with the panel's summons, citing a claim of executive privilege. Prosecutors said Monday that the Trump operative's actions were "aimed at undermining the Committee’s efforts to investigate an historic attack on government."
More:Steve Bannon heads to contempt trial for defying Jan. 6 committee. Here's a breakdown of his case.
Bannon's attorneys argued that a sentence of probation was more appropriate.
"The legal challenges advanced by Mr. Bannon were not meritless or frivolous and were aimed at protecting his constitutional rights," attorney Evan Corcoran argued in court documents. "For these reasons, the fact that Mr. Bannon chose to put the Government to its burden at trial should not preclude him from receiving a reduction to his offense level based on acceptance of responsibility."
The sentencing hearing is not the only front of legal trouble facing Bannon.
Last month, he pleaded not guilty in New York to state criminal charges involving an alleged fundraising scheme.
Bannon and the nonprofit organization We Build the Wall are charged with two counts of money laundering, plus felony counts of conspiracy and scheme to defraud. Bannon and the group also face a misdemeanor count of conspiracy to defraud.
“There cannot be one set of rules for everyday people and another for the wealthy and powerful – we all must play by the same rules and must obey the law,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
More:Trump adviser Steve Bannon pleads not guilty in N.Y. on charges related to border wall fund
The case is expected to echo aspects of an earlier federal criminal case that accused Bannon and three co-defendants of conspiring to dupe donors who contributed more than $25 million to build a security wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
In the federal case, Trump pardoned Bannon in the closing days of his White House term, ending that case against him.
Contributing: Kevin McCoy, The Associated Press