US seeks six months in jail for ex-Trump aide Bannon
In this file photo taken on November 15, 2021 former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon arrives at the FBI’s Washington office in Washington, DC before a scheduled court appearance to face charges after refusing to cooperate with the investigation into the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol.
PHOTO | AFP
What you need to know:
- Federal prosecutors recommended Steve Bannon get six months in jail for defying a subpoena from the congressional probe of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
- They also sought a $200,000 fine for Bannon, who was a senior advisor in former President Donald Trump’s White House.
The US Justice Department asked a judge Monday to sentence Donald Trump's former aide Steve Bannon to six months in prison for refusing to testify in Congress's probe of the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Bannon, a longtime political strategist and vocal advocate for the Republican former president, was found guilty in July on two counts of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena to testify.
The Justice Department said in a sentencing recommendation that the 68-year-old Bannon should receive the six-month sentence and pay a fine of $200,000 because he repeatedly sought to delay the proceedings by hinting he might cooperate.
Bannon "has pursued a bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt," the department said.
The investigation by a special House committee depicted Bannon last week as knowing in advance of the plan by hardline Trump supporters to attack the Capitol to prevent Democrat Joe Biden from being confirmed as the next president.
It also showed him advocating for Congress to block Biden -- who defeated Trump in the November 2020 election -- from becoming president.
"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," the department said.
"By flouting the Select Committee’s subpoena and its authority, the defendant exacerbated that assault."
The maximum sentence for contempt of Congress is 12 months, and a $100,000 fine.
The department's recommendation of six months in prison is at the top end of the standard sentencing guidelines, a calculation based on the context of the crime and the defendant's own justice record.
Sentencing is set for October 21.
But Bannon, who currently runs a streaming political commentary website, "Bannon's War Room," could appeal the sentence, delaying its implementation well into next year.
