The Department of Justice is arguing former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon should be sentenced to six months in prison and fined on contempt of Congress charges after defying orders from the Jan. 6 committee.
“The committee sought documents and testimony from the Defendant relevant to a matter of national importance: the circumstances that led to a violent attack on the Capitol and disruption of the peaceful transfer of power,” prosecutors argued. “In response, the Defendant flouted the Committee’s authority and ignored the subpoena’s demands.”
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The requested charges come after a jury convicted Bannon on a pair of contempt of Congress charges in July after he refused to comply with a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee to sit for questioning. The former White House aide also refused to turn over documents requested by the panel.
Bannon ultimately opted not to testify or call any witnesses in his defense during his trial in July, with the jury finding him guilty after just three hours of deliberations. His sentencing is scheduled for Friday.
The ex-Trump aide had argued he was not compelled to produce documents or sit for testimony because he was covered by the former president’s assertion of executive privilege that he said superseded the legal sway of a congressional subpoena.
The Jan. 6 committee sought testimony from Bannon because of his participation in meetings at the Willard Hotel in the days before the Capitol riot, which served as a “command center” for Trump allies seeking to challenge the results of the 2020 election. Bannon particularly became of interest to the panel because he had teased that “all hell is going to break loose tomorrow” on his podcast on Jan. 5, 2021.
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The former chief strategist is one of four Trump confidants to be held in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee. Onetime White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, as well as White House adviser Peter Navarro, have also been held in contempt.
The Justice Department ultimately opted not to pursue contempt charges against Meadows or Scavino but is currently preparing arguments against Navarro, who is set to stand trial in November.
