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Prosecutors demand six months in prison for Steve Bannon: Attorneys say he acted in bad faith when he ignored Jan. 6 subpoena and want to fine him $200,000 if convicted Friday
- Prosecutors charged Bannon with contempt of Congress for avoiding subpoena
- He was one of the first witnesses called by the House Committee on January 6.
- He faces a conviction on Friday after he was found guilty in July
- Prosecutors say he will continue to hold documents unlawfully
- Bannon ‘followed a bad faith strategy of defiance and contempt,’ they write
- Commission subpoenaed former President Trump last week
- Congress voted last year to despise him
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Prosecutors are asking that Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist, spend six months behind bars for refusing to testify before the House Committee on Jan. 6.
Bannon will be sentenced Friday after his trial for contempt of Congress after failing to appear before the panel investigating the Capitol riot and the events of January 6.
The government has submitted a 24-page conviction memo Monday in which it accused Bannon of “breaking” the law and holding onto essential documents. The memo notes that the request for six months in prison is at the ‘top’ of the sentencing guidelines for the offense.
“By ignoring the subpoena and its authority, the defendant aggravated that attack,” U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves wrote in the memo. To this day, he continues to illegally withhold documents and testimony that will help the commission’s authorized investigation get to the bottom of what led to January 6 and what steps should be taken to ensure that this never happens again. That cannot be tolerated.’
Prosecutors are asking former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon to serve six months in prison for contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a House Select Committee subpoena on Jan. 6. Prosecutors said in a memo his behavior ‘cannot be tolerated’
“Respect for the rule of law is essential to the functioning of the United States government and to the preservation of the liberty and good order that this country has enjoyed for more than two centuries. The defendant’s bad faith strategy of defiance and contempt deserves a severe punishment,” the prosecutors concluded.
Prosecutors also want Bannon to pay $200,000 in fines.
Earlier this month, Bannon appeared before the Manhattan Supreme Court, where he faces charges of alleged donor defrauding as part of a ‘We Build the Wall’ scheme.
The House Jan. 6 Committee refocused on Bannon at last week’s hearing
Defendant’s bad faith strategy of defiance and contempt deserves severe punishment, prosecutors wrote in sentencing memo
Prosecutors filed a damning memo accusing Bannon of a ‘bad faith strategy of defiance and contempt’
President Donald Trump pardoned Bannon just hours before leaving office after his former campaign adviser was accused of defrauding donors as part of a “We Build the Wall” scheme to use private funds to build border wall structures.
Bannon is still being charged in New York with alleged fraud. Trump’s pardon applied to the emerging federal case.
The House Select committee of January 6 last week subpoenaed former President Trump — sparking another potential legal clash. Trump has yet to say he will appear, though legal experts say it’s unlikely he would and likely wouldn’t face charges if he refuses to appear, even after being portrayed by committee members as the central figure in the events. that led to the attack on the Capitol.
Bannon mentioned administrative law when he was first ordered to appear before the committee, saying he could not speak on the matters in question without Trump’s permission.
Prosecutors continued to try to write down his claim in the sentencing note.
“He did so even though administrative law could not possibly allow the defendant’s total non-compliance; defendant was a private individual who had not worked in the White House for years; the demands of the subpoena called for documents and information totally unrelated to the defendant’s tenure there; and multiple subpoenas were completely unrelated to communications with the former president.”
“From the time he was initially subpoenaed, [Bannon] has shown that his true reasons for total noncompliance have nothing to do with his alleged respect for the Constitution, the rule of law, or executive privilege, and everything to do with his personal contempt for the members of Congress serving in the Committee and their efforts to investigate the attack on our country’s peaceful transfer of power,” the government wrote. “His non-compliance has been complete and unrelenting.”