Steve Bannon, a key associate of former President Donald Trump and an influential figure on the American right, was convicted on Friday of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the committee investigating last year's attack on the US Capitol, a major victory for the Democratic-led panel.
A jury found Steve Bannon, 68, guilty of two misdemeanor counts for refusing to provide testimony or documents to the House of Representatives select committee as it scrutinizes the Jan. 6, 2021, rampage by former US President Donald Trump supporters who tried to upend the results of the 2020 presidential election. FILE PHOTO
Each contempt of Congress count is punishable by 30 days to one year behind bars, as well as a fine of $100 to $100,000. US District Judge Carl Nichols set a sentencing date of Oct. 21. His defense team in closing arguments on Friday suggested to jurors that Bannon was a political target and painted the main prosecution witness as a politically motivated Democrat with ties to one of the prosecutors. The prosecution countered that Bannon showed disdain for the authority of Congress and needed to be held accountable for his unlawful defiance.
The trial featured two days of testimony. Prosecutors questioned only two witnesses. The defense called none. The Justice Department opted not to charge two other Trump associates, Mark Meadows and Daniel Scavino, for defying the committee despite a House vote recommending them. Unlike Bannon, Meadows turned over some communications to the committee.
The Justice Department charged Bannon last November after the Democratic-led House voted the prior month to hold him in contempt. Bannon separately was charged in 2020 with defrauding donors to a private fund-raising effort to boost Trump's project to build a wall along the US-Mexican border. Trump subsequently issued a pardon to Bannon before that case could go to trial.
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