Steve Bannon sentenced to 4 months in prison for flouting House Jan. 6 panel - NPR

Steve Bannon, longtime state of erstwhile President Donald Trump, convicted of contempt of Congress, arrives astatine national tribunal for a sentencing proceeding connected Friday. Nathan Howard/AP hide caption

toggle caption

Nathan Howard/AP

Steve Bannon, longtime state of erstwhile President Donald Trump, convicted of contempt of Congress, arrives astatine national tribunal for a sentencing proceeding connected Friday.

Nathan Howard/AP

A justice has sentenced erstwhile Trump governmental advisor Steve Bannon to 4 months incarceration and a $6,500 good for transgression contempt of Congress. The justice says he's prepared to fto Bannon stay escaped portion helium appeals his convictions arsenic Bannon is improbable to fly oregon airs a information to the community.

Bannon flouted demands for documents and grounds from the sheet investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, onslaught connected the U.S. Capitol. Lawmakers connected the House Select Committee wanted to cognize wherefore helium said a time earlier the siege that "all hellhole is going to interruption escaped tomorrow."

Federal prosecutors were seeking what they picture arsenic a "severe" penalty: six months successful jailhouse and a good of $200,000. In tribunal papers earlier this week, they said Bannon pursued "a atrocious religion strategy of defiance and contempt."

Bannon sat softly and did not respond arsenic asked U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols delivered the sentence.

No 1 has been incarcerated for contempt of Congress successful decades

The Justice Department took the antithetic measurement of listing a bid of bombastic and demeaning statements Bannon made astir the justness strategy and lawmakers successful their tribunal filing.

He called House Select Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., "gutless" and said the sheet is conducting a "show trial." Bannon utilized his podcast, which traffics successful conspiracy theories, to people radical helium considered his governmental enemies.

Bannon refused to crook implicit adjacent a azygous portion of insubstantial to the Jan. 6 committee, and helium besides refused to cooperate with the probation bureau successful beforehand of his sentencing, authoritative J.P. Cooney wrote.

After his indictment past year, Bannon promised reporters, "this is going to beryllium the misdemeanor from hellhole for Merrick Garland, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden."

Things didn't crook retired that way. Bannon enactment connected nary defence during his proceedings successful July and a assemblage took less than 3 hours to convict him.

Bannon's lawyers person said a condemnation that involves incarceration would beryllium wrong, due to the fact that helium didn't judge helium was breaking the law. Rather, they say, Bannon was pursuing proposal from his erstwhile attorney.

"Should a idiosyncratic who has spent a beingness listening to experts – arsenic a naval officer, concern banker, firm executive, and Presidential advisor – beryllium jailed for relying connected the proposal of his lawyers?" wrote Bannon lawyers Evan Corcoran and David Schoen successful a tribunal filing.

Bannon had wanted to stay escaped pending an appeal. And earlier sentencing, determination were immoderate signs that Judge Nichols mightiness bargain Bannon's argument. The justice had expressed interest astir a 60-year-old ineligible precedent that says DOJ lone needs to beryllium Bannon made a deliberate prime not to comply, not that helium had an improper motive. No 1 has been incarcerated for contempt of Congress successful respective decades.

The Justice Department this twelvemonth declined to prosecute Mark Meadows, Trump's main of staff, and Dan Scavino, a deputy, aft prosecutors concluded they had provided immoderate practice to legislature investigators.

But erstwhile Trump commercialized advisor Peter Navarro seems headed for trial successful November connected misdemeanor charges of transgression contempt for stiffing the Jan. 6 panel, too.

Unlike Bannon, who near the White House successful 2017 aft a rift with erstwhile President Trump, Navarro remained moving for the medication for years. Navarro is warring the charges and making ineligible arguments astir Trump's powerfulness to asseverate enforcement privilege, and Justice Department memos protecting confidential proposal that aides connection to presidents.