Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, was sentenced Friday to four months in prison for refusing to testify in the Congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill.
Bannon, one of the masterminds behind Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and victory, was found guilty in July of two charges of contempt for defying a subpoena to testify about the mutiny by the former president’s supporters.
Bannon was fined $6,500 and allowed to remain free by the judge until he appealed.
The sentence is less than the six months requested by the Justice Department, but longer than the parole that Bannon’s lawyers had requested.
Bannon argued that he declined to appear for the congressional investigation on the advice of his attorney, who believed it would violate an executive privilege of Trump, and also because he felt the investigation was politically motivated.
However, Federal Judge Carl Nichols dismissed the arguments, saying Trump never claimed executive privilege in the Bannon case and that the Jan. 6 incidents should be investigated.
“The events of January 6 were undeniably serious,” Nichols said before issuing the verdict. “The Jan 6 commission therefore has every reason to investigate what happened that day,” he added, noting that Bannon has not cooperated with the commission, even on matters not within the scope of possible administrative law. fall.
Bannon “has not produced any document…and has not testified on any subject,” Nichols said.
Source: DN
