Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was sentenced Friday following his conviction on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress, after he defied a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. He was subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 panel for records and testimony in September of last year. He refused to comply and was found guilty of contempt in July.
Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse after receiving his four-month sentence, Bannon said he respected the judge's decision. But he was defiant about his conviction, and his attorney confirmed he would be filing a notice of appeal.
Bannon also attacked the Jan. 6 committee and urged people to vote in the upcoming election.
Protesters nearby chanted "traitor" and "liar" as he spoke.
In sentencing Bannon to four months, Judge Nichols reiterated how serious the events of Jan. 6 were and said the congressional committee has every reason to investigate what happened that day and to prevent anything like it from happening again.
Nichols emphasized that Bannon has not produced a single document or any testimony to the Jan. 6 committee -- nor did he provide a log of documents that he believed to be covered by executive privilege.
However, the judge said the factors in Bannon's favor include that he was taking the advice of counsel, even if it was misguided. Nichols also said the committee did not attempt to sue Bannon to enforce their subpoena.
The four-month sentence is two months shorter than the sentence prosecutors had been seeking.
Steve Bannon has been sentenced to four months in prison and has been ordered to pay a fine of $6,500.
However Judge Nichols said he agreed that Bannon should not have to serve a sentence while he appeals his case, which Bannon has indicated he will do.
Bannon attorney David Schoen took exception to the suggestion that Bannon did not have a legitimate claim of executive privilege when he rejected the committee's subpoena.
In particular, Schoen went after Trump lawyer Justin Clark, who told DOJ investigators in July that at no point did former President Donald Trump ever invoke executive privilege over Bannon's testimony.
"You wouldn't believe a thing he says," Schoen said of Clark, who also contradicted other claims made by Bannon's defense team in their case.
Federal prosecutor J.P. Cooney argued that Bannon is not above the law and should be sentenced and treated like any other citizen.
"It must be made clear to the public and the grand jury ... that no one is above the law," Cooney said. "He hid behind a fabricated claim of executive privilege, to thumb his nose at Congress."
"He had an interest in making a public spectacle of the committee's hearings," Cooney told the judge, saying that Bannon "has tried to make it about nothing but politics and retribution."
