In the case of a lime and a sand Steve Bannon, far-right strategist and in July, a former adviser to former US Republican President Donald Trump Convicted on two counts of contempt of congress For refusing to respond to a subpoena of the special committee investigating the attack on the Capitol. This Friday Bannon was convicted four months in prison for each of the charges (although it will fulfill them simultaneously) and $6,500 finebut the judge who handed this sentence, Carl Nichols, Ie will allow me to go to jail immediately and wait for the appeal to be resolved Bannon and his defense have already announced that they will submit this appeal, provided that it is submitted “within sufficient time”.
Bannon, a prominent figure in the US and the global far right, was sentenced to at least one month in prison and He could have been the first to go to prison. United States of America for contempt of congress in more than half a century. He also faced a request from the prosecution to increase the sentence to six months and a $200,000 fine. But Judge Nichols agreed with most of the arguments presented by prosecutors, and Bannon too. “He showed no remorse for what he did” He was released from prison for the time being, saying, “He still has to prove that he intends to comply with his subpoena.”
Compelling
The decision was welcomed by Bannon. victorious and defiant After hearing his sentence, he once again filed a criminal complaint in some statements he made to the press at the court door. Lie he was there election fraud In the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost. “On November 8, Joe Biden’s illegitimate regime will be prosecuted,” he said, spreading that lie and referring to the next one. parliamentary electionwhich Republicans aim to regain control of the lower house, what does it mean definitive end of the commission of inquiry.
Bannon assured him that the arguments for his objection would be “bulletproof”. His lawyers say that he only “aims to defend the Constitution and, on the advice of his lawyer, administrator privilegeAllegedly, he kept his meetings with the White House and the president of the time secret. And though the argument is flimsy, because Resigned as official consultant in mid-2017 and then, as a private citizen, he maintained contacts with the then-president, and also given that Trump sent him two letters this summer, supposedly willing to lift the privilege, they can move forward.
This Friday, Judge Nichols cited the advice of his attorney and his failure to file a civil criminal action to ensure the committee complies with the subpoena as arguments in his favor.
Newspaper of January 6
At the committee’s final hearing, audio recordings were released of Bannon saying Trump would declare victory no matter what happens at the polls, just days before the 2020 presidential election. “It doesn’t mean I’m a winner, he’ll just say he wonor”, he explained in a conversation with a group of partners from China, furthering what happened on November 3, 2020, and from then on, including after Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election was confirmed on November 7. “He will say they were stolen, that’s our strategy.”.
On Bannon’s podcast late last year, Peter Navarro, another former Trump adviser, told strategist “ January 6 hero” He said it was a “strategy of going to Capitol Hill.” Navarro also refused to respond to a subpoena from the congressional committee (which was unanimously approved at the last hearing with reference to Trump himself) and, like Bannon, will face charges of contempt.
Another case in New York
Despite Bannon’s victory, his problems with Justice do not end in the process. He is also facing another trial in New York in September where he was charged seven times with money laundering, conspiracy and fraud. divert millions of dollars for personal use to support the construction Mexican border wall. While Trump used his last day in the White House to grant a presidential pardon to his former adviser in a federal case on the same charges, the executive pardon does not apply to state cases.