Former Trump administration advisor Steve Bannon could face up to six months in jail and a $200,000 fine for being in contempt of Congress, should the Justice Department’s recommendation come to fruition.
Back in July, a jury found Bannon guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress, one for not being present to give testimony, and a second count for failing to hand over “documents and communications” related to the January 6 Capitol attack. “For his sustained, bad-faith contempt of Congress, the Defendant should be sentenced to six months’ imprisonment – the top end of the Sentencing Guidelines’ range— and fined $200,000— based on his insistence on paying the maximum fine rather than cooperate with the Probation Office’s routine pre-sentencing financial investigation,” prosecutors recommended in a filing they submitted on Monday.
According to the DOJ, Bannon refused to cooperate with the probation office during the pre-sentencing portion of the investigation, noting that he “freely answered questions about his family, professional life, personal background, and health. But the Defendant refused to disclose his financial records, instead insisting that he is willing and able to pay any fine imposed, including the maximum fine on each count of conviction.” The prosecutors’ filing cited numerous occasions over the past 6 months during which Bannon made it appear that he would cooperate with committee in exchange for dismissing charges against him, but then failed to comply.
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In addition, prosecutors argued that Bannon failed to disclose his financial position to the probation office which was attempting to determine an appropriate fine for him to pay. The filing also pointed out comments Bannon made on his podcast, which prosecutors argued were violent and intimidating to committee members. “Through his public platforms, [Bannon] has used hyperbolic and sometimes violent rhetoric to disparage the committee’s investigation, personally attack the committee’s members, and ridicule the criminal justice system,” the filing said.
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