Steve Bannonlongtime aide of the former president Donald Trump, was convicted on Friday of contempt charges for defying a congressional subpoena of a House committee investigating the January 6 uprising at the US Capitol. Committee leaders called the decision a “victory for the rule of law”.
Bannon, 68, was convicted in federal court after a four-day trial on two counts: one for refusing to appear for a statement and another for refusing to provide documents in response to a committee summons. A jury of 8 men and 4 women deliberated within just three hours.
He faces up to two years in federal prison when he is sentenced on October 21. Each count carries a minimum sentence of 30 days in prison.
David Schoen, one of Bannon’s lawyers, said the decision would not survive out-of-court. “It’s round one,” Shoen said. “You will see this case reversed on appeal.”
Similarly, Bannon himself said, “Maybe we have lost the war here today; We are not going to lose this war.”
He thanked the jurors for their service and said that he had only one disappointment _ “and he is a ruthless member of that show trial committee, the J-6 committee didn’t have the courage to come here and testify.”
Prosecutors were equally firm on the other side of the verdict.
“The summons to Stephen Bannon was not an invitation that could be denied or ignored,” US Attorney Matthew Graves in Washington said in a statement. “Mr. Bannon was obliged to appear before the House Select Committee to testify and provide documents. His refusal to do so was willful, and now a jury has found that he will face consequences.”
The committee sought Bannon’s testimony on his involvement in Trump’s efforts to reverse the 2020 presidential election. Bannon initially argued that his testimony was protected by Trump’s claim of executive privilege. But the House panel and the Justice Department argue that such a claim is questionable because Trump fired Bannon from the White House in 2017 and Bannon was thus a private citizen when he was consulting with the then-president over the riots. . January 6, 2021.
Bannon’s lawyers tried to argue during the trial that he refused to cooperate and that the dates were “in flux.” He pointed to the fact that Bannon had reversed course shortly before the trial began _ after Trump waived his objection _ and offered to testify before the committee.
In Friday morning’s closing arguments, both sides re-emphasised their primary position from the trial. Prosecutors said that Bannon deliberately ignored clear and explicit deadlines, and the defense claimed that Bannon believed those deadlines were flexible and subject to negotiation.
Bannon was served with a subpoena on 23 September last year, ordering him to provide the requested documents to the committee by 7 October and to appear in person by 14 October. Bannon was indicted in November on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress over a month. After the Justice Department received the House panel’s referral.
Bannon’s attorney, Evan Corcoran, told jurors in his closing arguments Friday that those deadlines were only “placeholders” while lawyers for each side negotiated the terms.
Corcoran said the committee “reached for a decision” because it “wanted to set an example of Steve Bannon.”
Corcoran also indicated that the government’s main witness, Kristin Amarling, the lead counsel for the January 6 committee, was personally biased. Amarling admitted on the stand that he is a lifelong Democrat and has been friends with a prosecutor over the years.
January 6 committee chairman Benny Thompson, D-Miss, was a particular target for Bannon and his defense team. His name appeared several times during the trial, although US District Judge Carl Nichols warned the defense not to claim in court that the committee itself was politically biased. Bannon strongly criticized Thompson by name in his daily statements outside the courthouse, at one point implying that Thompson’s COVID-19 diagnosis was fake to avoid pressure to be revealed last week.
Thompson and committee vice chairman Liz Cheney, R-Vyo. hailed the decision in a statement, calling it “a victory for the rule of law and an important confirmation of the work of the Select Committee”.
“Just as those responsible for the January 6 incidents should be held accountable, so whoever obstructs our investigation in these cases will have to face the consequences,” he said. “no one is above the law.”
Prosecutors focused on a series of letters exchanged between the January 6 committee and Bannon’s lawyers. Correspondence shows that Thompson immediately dismissed Bannon’s claim that he was exempt from Trump’s claim of executive privilege and explicitly threatened Bannon with criminal prosecution.
“The defense wants this hard, difficult and confusing,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Vaughan said in her closing statement. “It’s not hard. It’s not hard. There were only two witnesses because it’s as simple as it sounds.”
The defense motion for acquittal on Thursday said the prosecution had not proved its case. Giving his motion for acquittal before Judge Nichols, Bannon attorney Corcoran stated that “no reasonable juror can conclude that Mr. Bannon refused to comply.”
Once the motion was passed, the defense rested its case without presenting any witnesses, telling Nichols that Bannon saw no point in testifying because the judge’s previous decisions affected his planned course of defense. was. Among other things, Bannon’s team was barred from claiming that Bannon believed he was protected by executive privilege or called him as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or members of the House panel. went.
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Associated Press reporters Michael Balsamo and Gary Fields contributed to this report.
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