Steve Bannon was found guilty of both contempt charges against him over his defiance of a House Jan. 6 committee subpoena.
Leading up to the trial, Bannon had vowed to fight against the “misdemeanor from hell” and go “medieval on these people,” but when time came for the trial, he ultimately opted not to testify or call on any witnesses in his defense. Charges for contempt entail between 30 days and one year in prison and up to a $100,000 fine per charge. The decision comes after a mere three hours of deliberations. A sentencing date has been scheduled for Oct. 21.
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“I want to thank the jury for whatever they did, the judge, particularly the court administration here,” Bannon declared after the trial. “I only have one disappointment, and that is the gutless members of that show trial committee — the J6 committee that didn’t have the guts to come down here and testify.”
An eight-man, four-woman jury in Washington, D.C., reached the decision. Bannon was reportedly smiling in the courtroom when the decision came down. His lawyer, David Schoen, argued Bannon has a “bulletproof appeal.” The trial was the first contempt of Congress trial since 1983, according to CNN legal analyst Elie Honig.
The first charge against Bannon was for his refusal to appear for deposition before the House Jan. 6 committee, and the second charge was for his refusal to produce documents.
Jan. 6 committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) welcomed Bannon’s conviction.
“The conviction of Steve Bannon is a victory for the rule of law and an important affirmation of the Select Committee’s work,” the pair said in a joint statement. “As the prosecutor stated, Steve Bannon ‘chose allegiance to Donald Trump over compliance with the law.’ Just as there must be accountability for all those responsible for the events of January 6th, anyone who obstructs our investigation into these matters should face consequences. No one is above the law.”
Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney who oversaw the prosecution, similarly celebrated the verdict.
“The subpoena to Stephen Bannon was not an invitation that could be rejected or ignored,” Graves said, per Politico. “Mr. Bannon had an obligation to appear before the House Select Committee to give testimony and provide documents. His refusal to do so was deliberate and now a jury has found that he must pay the consequences.”
Bannon had argued that former President Donald Trump’s assertion of executive privilege superseded the legal sway of a congressional subpoena, precluding him from delivering testimony before the committee. He was indicted on contempt of Congress charges for his insubordination last November and livestreamed his public surrender to authorities.
The verdict comes just days after U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols convened jury selection in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Bannon’s team had stressed that Bannon wanted to testify but decided not to due to limits placed on what he could say, such as issuing an “advice-of-counsel” defense.
Throughout the trial, defense lawyers for Bannon had been frustrated by Nichols, an appointee of Trump, overseeing the case. In April, the judge scuttled attempts to deploy an advice-of-counsel defense strategy in which Bannon would argue he was shielded from liability for defying the subpoena because he was following the advice of his lawyers.
Nichols shot down recent attempts by Bannon’s defense to postpone the trial due to concerns that the televised Jan. 6 committee hearings could poison public opinion against him. The judge also blocked Bannon’s team from calling on certain prominent witnesses such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) or members of the Jan. 6 committee.
Members of the Jan. 6 panel had been interested in testimony and documents from Bannon because of his participation in meetings at the Willard Hotel, which served as a “command center” for Trump allies to challenge the 2020 election. On the eve of the Jan. 6 riot, Bannon teased that chaos would unfold on Jan. 6.
“All hell is going to break loose tomorrow,” Bannon cautioned on his podcast on Jan. 5, 2021. “It’s all converging, and now we’re on, as they say, the point of attack.”
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The former chief strategist and senior counselor to the president was one of four Trump confidants to be held in contempt of Congress for bucking a Jan. 6 committee subpoena. Onetime White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, as well as White House adviser Peter Navarro, were also held in contempt. The Justice Department ultimately opted not to pursue contempt charges against Meadows or Scavino but is currently preparing arguments for a trial against Navarro.
Unlike his three comrades, Bannon was not a member of the Trump White House during the time surrounding the Capitol riot, which has led some to argue that executive privilege did not extend to him. On July 11, the DOJ declared that Trump never invoked executive privilege for material specific to Bannon. A day prior, Bannon offered to deliver testimony to the panel claiming Trump wrote him a letter informing him that he would waive his executive privilege.
