Former top Trump adviser Steve Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison and a $6,500 fine on Friday morning, months after a jury took less than three hours to find him guilty of two charges of criminal contempt of Congress—Willful Failure to Appear for Testimony, and Willful Failure to Provide Records—for his refusal to comply with subpoenas from the Jan. 6 committee. Bannon’s sentence is technically two four-month sentences to be served concurrently.
Bannon asked for probation or home confinement, but by statute, he faced a mandatory 30 days in prison, and the Department of Justice asked for six months, citing his “bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt.”
“The Defendant has expressed no remorse for his conduct and attacked others at every turn. The Court should reject the Defendant’s request to be credited with acceptance of responsibility that he has never shown,” prosecutors wrote.
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That strategy continued in court on Friday morning, as Bannon’s lawyers argued that the case—in which, again, a jury found him guilty—should never have been brought and “Mr. Bannon should make no apologies.” Not only should Bannon not apologize, his lawyer said, but defying the Jan. 6 committee subpoena was “the type of conduct we should be encouraging in this country.” In short, they were egging the judge on to give Bannon the harshest possible sentence, and setting up the argument that he is a martyr. Bannon will most likely profit from that.
While he tried to wiggle out of incarceration, Bannon was less worried about being fined. ”Rather than disclose his financial records, a requirement with which every other defendant found guilty of a crime is expected to comply, the Defendant informed Probation that he would prefer instead to pay the maximum fine. So be it,” the sentencing memo noted. “This Court should require the Defendant to comply with the bargain he proposed when he refused to answer standard questions about his financial condition.” Each contempt count carried a maximum fine of $100,000. Obviously, the judge went much, much smaller.
The judge said Bannon can remain free while he appeals.
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