Steve Bannon Latest: Justice Department Seeks 6-Month Jail Sentence, $200K Fine For Former Trump Strategist
Federal prosecutors are seeking a sentence of six months in prison and a $200,000 fine for Donald Trump's former strategist Steve Bannon, who was found guilty of willfully disobeying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
"For his sustained, bad-faith contempt of Congress, the Defendant should be sentenced to six months imprisonment – the top end of the Sentencing Guidelines' range – and fined $200,000 – based on his insistence on paying the maximum fine rather than cooperate with the Probation Office's routine pre-sentencing financial investigation," prosecutors wrote in their court filing Monday.
A jury in July found Bannon guilty of willfully ignoring a subpoena that sought his testimony about Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, as well as records he may have kept leading up to the violent attack on the Capitol.
Federal prosecutors sought a punishment harsher than the minimum of one month due to Bannon's brazen disregard for the committee's demands.
Bannon, 68, was found guilty of contempt of Congress in July, after claiming he was excluded from the House committee's legal powers due to lasting executive privilege.
As the court hearing drew closer, Bannon pulled back after Trump waived his own executive protections. Bannon would then attempt an 11th-hour plea to the House committee, promising his full testimony should the committee advise the Justice Department to drop the charges against him.
Bannon has yet to provide any testimony or requested documents to the committee.
He also has remained publicly resilient in his faith in Trump. Bannon had commented outside of the courtroom that found him guilty: "I stand with Trump and the Constitution. I will never back off that."
Bannon's sentencing is scheduled for Friday. He is expected to appeal.
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.