WASHINGTON (AP) — Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, on Friday after defying a subpoena from a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol. He was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols granted Bannon’s release pending appeal and imposed a $6,500 fine as part of the sentencing. Bannon was convicted in July of two counts of contempt of Congress.
Nichols handed down the sentence after saying the law clearly states that contempt of Congress requires at least a month’s imprisonment. Bannon’s attorneys argued that a judge could have sentenced him to probation instead.Prosecutors had asked to send Bannon to prison for his six months. .
“In my view, Mr. Bannon is not responsible for his actions,” Nichols said before handing down the sentence. “I must dissuade others from committing similar crimes. Hmm.”
A House committee was seeking Bannon’s testimony about his involvement in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Bannon has yet to testify or file documents with the commission.
Prosecutors argued that Bannon, 68, deserved a longer sentence because he pursued “malicious tactics,” and his public statements defaming the commission itself helped clarify the truth of the violent attacks and prevent that from happening again.
“He chose to hide behind fabricated claims of presidential privilege and advice from his lawyers to snort in Congress,” said prosecutor JP Cooney.
“Your credit, the defendant is not above the law, and that’s exactly what makes this case so important,” Cooney said. , to the public, to the public.”
The defense, on the other hand, said he was not acting in bad faith and should avoid running counter to the presidential privilege objection Trump raised when Bannon first received a subpoena from the committee last year. A former adviser to the president said he wanted Trump’s lawyers present, but the committee would not allow it.
In ruling, the judge said Bannon had a lawyer and that his advice may have been “overly aggressive” but he appeared to follow it.
“Mr. Bannon has neither completely ignored the fact that he received the subpoena nor neglected his engagement with the Commission at all,” Nichols said.
Many other former White House aides have testified solely to their own attorneys. did.
Before the judge handed down the verdict, Bannon’s attorney, David Shane, held a heated argument denouncing the commission, and Bannon simply insisted that his attorney do so to him under Trump’s executive immunity objection. I said
“Frankly Mr. Bannon should not apologize. No American should apologize for the way Mr. Bannon took this case,” he said.
Shane also defended Bannon’s public statements about the commission.
When appearing in court on Friday, Bannon told reporters, “This illegal regime, their sentencing date is Nov. 8, when the Biden administration ends.” Mr. Bannon did not speak at the hearing, saying only, “My lawyer spoke for me.”
Leaving the court after the verdict, Bannon said he believed Attorney General Merrick Garland would be impeached.
Prosecutors demanded maximum fines, and Bannon refused to answer routine questions about his income, claiming he could pay whatever the judge imposed. The response was determined to be an effort by court staff to save a lengthy effort to track down Bannon’s finances, and imposed a smaller fine.
Mr. Bannon also claims that Mr. Trump offered to testify after he renounced his presidency. But that was after the contempt charges were filed, and prosecutors have said they will only agree to a deposition if the case is dropped.
Bannon is also facing another money laundering, fraud and conspiracy charge in New York in connection with the “We Build the Wall” campaign. Bannon has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors say Bannon falsely promised donors that all funds would be used to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, but instead transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to a third party. and used them to centralize payments to the other two involved.
Associated Press journalist Nathan Elgren contributed to this report.
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