Conservative radio host and former Trump advisor Stephen Bannon was sentenced to four months in jail on Friday for defying a subpoena for the January 6 Select Committee.
Bannon is set to be the first person in more than half-a-century to be jailed for refusing a Congressional subpoena. In addition to the expected lockup, Bannon has been fined $6,500. The judge in the case has stayed Bannon’s penalty ahead of the commentator’s expected appeal, according to The Washington Post.
The sentence comes after a Washington D.C. jury convicted Bannon in July of two counts of contempt of Congress. Bannon was indicted after refusing to appear in front of the House January 6 committee for its investigation into the Capitol riot of January 6, 2021. During his trial, Bannon did not attempt a defense and his verdict was delivered after less than three hours of jury deliberation.
“I only have one disappointment,” Bannon told reporters after his guilty verdict. “And that is the gutless members of that show trial committee, the J6 Committee, didn’t have the guts to come down here and testify in open court.”
Bannon’s testimony was sought in connection with former President Donald Trump’s role in the Capitol riot. The House committee investigating the event is made up almost entirely of Democrats with two Republicans: Reps. Liz Cheney (WY) and Adam Kinzinger (IL). Both Republicans joined the committee after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy refused to work with House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi to staff the committee. Pelosi had rejected several of McCarthy’s suggested members.
Bannon’s prosecutors had asked U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols for a sentence of six months in jail and a fine of $200,000 because of his display of “a total disregard for government processes and the law.” Bannon had requested probation.
“Flaunting Congressional subpoenas betrays a lack of respect for the legislative branch, which exercises the will of the people of the United States,” Nichols said during sentencing, according to WaPo. The judge also stated that Bannon “has expressed no remorse” for his failure to comply.
Bannon has been a harsh critic of the January 6 committee and its investigation. He has referred to the committee as a “show trial” and called its chairman, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson (MS), “gutless.”
