Donald Trump’s friend Steve Bannon sentenced to prison for contempt of Congress | World news

Former Donald Trump aide Steve Bannon was sentenced Friday to four months in prison for refusing to testify in the congressional investigation of the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

One of the bosses behind Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and victory, Bannon was found guilty on two counts of contempt of Congress for opposing a warrant to testify on riots by the former president’s supporters.

Bannon, who was also fined $6,500, was allowed by the judge to remain free while he fought what his lawyer testified would be a “bulletproof” appeal.

A longtime Trump adviser struck a chord as he left the federal courthouse in Washington — attacking President Joe Biden and the Democratic leaders of the House of Representatives.

“Today is the day of my judgment by the judge,” Bannon told reporters outside. “On November 8th there will be judgment on the illegitimate Biden administration,” he vowed – referring to the upcoming midterm elections.

“And we know which way that’s going,” he said. “The Biden administration ends on the evening of the 8th of November.”

Asked by reporters at the White House for a response to Bannon’s ruling, Biden responded shortly: “I have no response to Steve Bannon at all.”

‘Without denying importance’

The 68-year-old Bannon was booed when he arrived at the courthouse early Friday by protesters chanting “Treason” Fascist!

His prison sentence was less than the six months the Justice Department had requested, but more than the probation Bannon’s lawyers had sought.

Bannon has argued that he refused to appear before the Capitol’s impeachment inquiry committee on advice from his attorney that doing so would violate Trump’s executive privilege.

But he also said he felt the investigation was political.

Federal Judge Carl Nichols rejected those arguments, saying Trump had never asserted an executive interest in Bannon’s case and that the events at the Capitol required an investigation.

“The events of January 6th are undoubtedly important,” Nichols said before pronouncing the sentence. “The January 6 committee now has every reason to investigate what happened that day.”

He added that Bannon has failed to cooperate with the committee on matters not affected by possible claims of executive privilege.

Bannon has “not produced a document … and not provided any evidence on any subject,” he said.

‘The rule of law has been violated’

Regardless of the prison sentence, Bannon, who currently runs a streaming political commentary website, could remain in prison well into the next year while he fights his appeal.

An investigation by a special House committee has revealed Bannon as knowingly in advance of a plan by hard-line Trump supporters to attack the Capitol to prevent Biden from being confirmed as the next president.

It also featured him advocating for Congress to prevent Biden — who defeated Trump in the November 2020 election — from becoming president.

“The riots that overtook the Capitol on January 6 did not attack just one building – they attacked the constitution on which this country was built and by which it endures,” the Justice Department told the court in its sentencing memo.

“By ignoring the intervention of the Select Committee and its authority, the defendant aggravated the attack.”

Bannon served in the White House as chief adviser for the first seven months of Trump’s tenure, reportedly leaving due to conflicts with other top officials.

In 2020, Bannon was charged with wire fraud and money laundering for transferring for personal use millions of dollars that donors contributed to the construction of the border wall with Mexico.

While accusing others of the scheme, Trump issued a blanket pardon to Bannon before he left office in January 2021, leading to the dismissal of the charges against him.