Steve Bannon set to be sentenced for contempt of Congress

Former apical Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon is acceptable to beryllium sentenced Friday for defying a subpoena from the legislature probe of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

The proceeding, acceptable for 9 a.m. ET successful U.S. District Court successful Washington, D.C., could marque Bannon 1 of the highest-profile figures to beryllium locked up connected charges related to the insurrection. He is expected to entreaty his conviction.

Federal prosecutors privation the tribunal to condemnation Bannon to six months successful jailhouse — the apical extremity of the national sentencing guidelines scope — and the maximum good of $200,000.

A right-wing media fig and onetime adjacent state of erstwhile President Donald Trump, Bannon "consistently acted successful atrocious faith" arsenic helium tried to impede the House prime committee's investigation, prosecutors argued.

Bannon has asked national Judge Carl Nichols for a condemnation of probation. His lawyers besides argued that the tribunal should hold immoderate condemnation imposed until an appeals tribunal could perceive the case.

Bannon's condemnation came 1 twelvemonth to the time since the House voted to clasp him successful contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a House prime committee's subpoena for documents and testimony. Bannon was indicted successful November connected 2 transgression counts and convicted aft a national trial in July.

Bannon's lawyer had argued that the subpoena would interruption Trump's enforcement privilege, the statesmanlike powerfulness to withhold definite accusation from the public.

But Bannon reversed course days earlier his trial, saying helium was consenting to attest due to the fact that Trump had agreed to waive his enforcement privilege claim.

Prosecutors called that a stunt. In a tribunal filing Monday, they wrote that aft Bannon's gambit failed to hold the trial, "he ne'er made immoderate further effort to comply with the subpoena—continuing up to this day."

Attorneys for Bannon argued successful portion that Bannon should person a airy condemnation due to the fact that helium was simply pursuing his lawyer's proposal erstwhile helium defied the prime committee's subpoena.

"The facts of this lawsuit amusement that Mr. Bannon's behaviour was based connected his good-faith reliance connected his lawyer's advice," the defendant's attorneys wrote successful a tribunal filing this week.

But the Justice Department prosecutors said that Bannon "pursued a bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt" from "the moment" helium was served the subpoena.

"A idiosyncratic could person shown nary greater contempt than the Defendant did successful his defiance of the Committee's subpoena," they told the court.

"The rioters who overran the Capitol connected January 6 did not conscionable onslaught a building—they assaulted the regularisation of instrumentality upon which this state was built and done which it endures. By flouting the Select Committee's subpoena and its authority, the Defendant exacerbated that assault," their memo said.

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