KYIV. UkraineGate . 21 . October . 2022 | World News .
Steve Bannon, a prominent American right-wing figure who served as former President Donald Trump’s senior strategist, was sentenced to four months in prison on Friday for refusing to cooperate with lawmakers investigating last year’s Trump mob attack on the Capitol .
Details
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols also ordered Bannon to pay a $6500 fine during sentencing.
Bannon was convicted by a jury in July on two counts of contempt of Congress for failing to provide documents or testimony. Each of the two counts carries a penalty of imprisonment for a term of one month to one year and a fine of up to $100,000.
Prosecutors on Monday asked a judge to sentence Bannon to six months in prison, while Bannon’s lawyers demanded probation.
Prosecutor J. Edgar Hoover Mr. Cooney said at a hearing Friday that Bannon preferred to “show Congress his nose.” He’s “not above the law, and that’s what makes this thing important,” Cooney said.
A jury of eight men and four women convicted Bannon of refusing to testify or provide documents summoned to court by a special committee of the House of Representatives investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and attempts by Trump allies to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
Bannon, 68, was a key adviser in the Trump Republican presidential campaign in 2016, then worked as his chief strategist at the White House in 2017 before a quarrel broke out between the two, which was later settled. Bannon helped articulate the right-wing populism of “America First” and the strong opposition to immigration that helped define Trump’s presidency. Bannon has played an important role in right-wing media and promoted the interests of right-wingers and candidates in the United States and abroad.
In addition to Bannon, prosecutors have accused former White House Trump adviser Peter Navarro of contempt of Congress for ignoring the agenda of the same committee with a scheduled trial date of Nov. 17. Navarro pleaded not guilty.
Friday’s verdict will not put an end to Bannon’s legal problems. In September, he was charged with money laundering and conspiracy in New York State, and prosecutors accused him of defrauding donors who give money to build Trump’s promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Bannon, who has pleaded not guilty, could be sentenced to 15 years in prison if found guilty on those charges.
Last year, Trump pardoned Bannon on similar federal charges.
Supplement
A mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and attacked police with batons, sledgehammers, flagpoles, stun guns, chemical irritants, metal pipes, stones, metal fences and other weapons in an unsuccessful attempt to block congressional confirmation of Trump’s defeat.
According to the Jan. 6 committee, Bannon spoke to Trump at least twice the day before the insurrection and attended a planning meeting at a hotel in Washington.
Source: Ukrgate
