A federal judge sentenced Steve Bannon, a longtime confidant of former President Donald Trump, to four months in jail and a $6,500 fine for defying a subpoena issued by the House Jan. 6 committee.
A jury convicted the former White House chief strategist of two criminal charges of contempt of Congress in July. The Department of Justice on Monday had recommended a six-month jail sentence for Bannon and a $200,000 fine.
Our contributors today were "The Rachel Maddow Show" legal analyst Lisa Rubin and The ReidOut Blog writer Ja'han Jones.
Key highlights:
- A federal judge sentenced Bannon to four months in jail and a $6,500 fine.
- The DOJ had recommended six months behind bars and a $200,000 fine.
- The judge allowed Bannon to stay out of jail pending a timely appeal.
Bannon sentencing brings surprises, deflection and delays
So Bannon has been sentenced to four months in jail with a $6,500 fine — and as expected, he won a stay pending his appeal to the D.C. Circuit.
On one hand, color me surprised. Yes, the statute he violated carries a mandatory minimum of one month and a maximum of 12 months, and the DOJ asked for six months, the top of the guidelines range.
Where Judge Nichols landed, at least in terms of jail time, is more than halfway between the minimum and DOJ’s suggested sentence and can be considered a victory for the Justice Department, which consistently painted Bannon as a bad-faith actor who showed no remorse and is less interested in honoring the Constitution than in exalting unfounded claims of election fraud and glorifying legal defiance.
Indeed, as Nichols recognized in delivering his sentence, at least some of what the Jan. 6 committee’s subpoena sought is “information under which no conceivable claim of privilege could have been made.” That alone should have stopped him from imposing a stay pending appeal because even if Bannon is correct that the governing case law is outdated and warrants correction so that those facing contempt of Congress charges can defend themselves on the basis that they relied on their lawyers’ advice, Bannon cannot show — by Nichols’ own acknowledgement — that such reliance was in good faith here. That’s especially true given that Trump’s own lawyer repeatedly tried to tell Bannon’s lawyer that he misunderstood the nature of Trump’s instruction — and then told the FBI that Trump never believed Bannon had full immunity from testifying the way senior White House staff might have.
Put another way, if the subpoena sought information for which “no conceivable claim of privilege could have been made,” what juror could reasonably believe Bannon relied on legal advice to simply not show up and never produce a document? That’s why Nichols’ decision to stay Bannon’s sentence pending appeal strikes me as an unjustified gift. Bannon might win a battle on the law, but I doubt, based on the limited evidence already presented, that he could ever prevail in a war on the facts.
Don't expect Bannon to change his ways now
Our brilliant live-blogging legal analyst Lisa Rubin was just on MSNBC explaining what this sentence means and what might comes next.
One important thing to keep in mind: There's little chance this potential jail time will change Bannon's pattern of defying democracy and the rule of law.
“This is a person who will continue to contumaciously pursue his allegations of election fraud and treat the Jan. 6 committee with utter disdain," Lisa said.
Some (jail) bars for Bannon
Steve Bannon has been sentenced to jail time, you say?
The four-month jail sentence is meager in my view, and an indicator of inequities between judicial treatment of wealthy white guys compared to everyone else.
But I’d be remiss if I didn’t offer Bannon a gift fit for the occasion: this sentencing-themed playlist of songs featuring the likes of Eminem, DJ Khaled, Mary J. Blige and The Fray.
Bannon ominously alludes to Election Day — again
“Today was my judgment day by the judge,” Bannon just said outside of court.
He then pointed behind him, saying: “As that sign says right there … on Nov. 8, there’s going to [be] judgment on the illegitimate Biden regime and, quite frankly, Nancy Pelosi and the entire [Jan. 6] committee.”
“And we know which way that’s going,” he added, citing Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both outgoing Republican members of the House who are on the Jan. 6 committee.
“This is democracy,” Bannon said.
Bannon not going to jail today
Judge Nichols said Bannon does not need to begin his sentence today if he files a timely appeal. If he does not do so, he must surrender himself on Nov. 15 to being service his jail sentence.
Bannon sentenced to four months, $6,500 fine
Bannon has been sentenced to four months in jail and a $6,500 fine, reports NBC News' Ryan Reilly. He was handed a four-month sentence for each contempt of Congress count, though they were ordered to be served concurrently.
“Others must be deterred from committing similar crimes,” Judge Nichols reportedly stated.
Why Bannon’s team has turned on Trump lawyer Justin Clark
One of the most interesting turns in l’affaire Bannon has been the defense team’s scapegoating of Justin Clark, a former senior Trump White House aide and campaign official who then represented Trump in his own executive privilege-related litigation with the Jan. 6 committee. Clark was also Trump’s representative in terms of his assertions of executive privilege vis-a-vis witnesses subpoenaed by the committee.
When Clark was interviewed by the FBI in late June 2022, he told them several things that Bannon’s team now vociferously disputes:
Clark acknowledged his October 2021 letter asserts “executive privilege” but with qualifications: He was telling Costello that Bannon should rely on executive privilege only with respect to those documents and testimony that are, in fact, privileged.
Clark told the FBI that while it was possible that such communications existed, he had no knowledge of Bannon actually possessing documents, information or testimony that would qualify for protection under executive privilege. Similarly, Clark was unaware of Bannon having any status that would give him total immunity from providing documents to or appearing before the Jan. 6 committee.
Trump also did not believe Bannon had such immunity, which is why the instruction letter to Bannon was phrased differently than those to three other witnesses who, unlike Bannon, were members of the Trump administration during the time period at issue in the Jan. 6 committee’s subpoenas to them.
Collectively, Clark’s testimony helps establish that Bannon’s claim of reliance on executive privilege was faulty at best, and in utter bad faith at the worst. No wonder Bannon lawyer David Schoen attacked Clark viciously in court today.
Recess is over. Here comes the sentence.
Judge Nichols has returned to the bench to impose Bannon's sentence. As Reuters' Sarah Lynch reports:
Unsurprisingly, Republicans are backing one of their own
Republicans, as you’d predict, are showing their support for Bannon’s effort to obstruct the Jan. 6 committee’s investigation.
Right as his sentencing was about to start, the GOP’s official Twitter account shared a clip of an appearance by Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel on Bannon’s podcast.
America’s most prominent cheerleader for right-wing fascism chimed in, too.
For those who were wondering: No supportive tweet from Ye … yet.
Bannon declines to speak ahead of court recess
The typically loquacious Bannon has been uncharacteristically tight-lipped in the courtroom this morning. Bannon declined to speak before the court before Judge Nichols declared a brief recess.
“My lawyers have spoken for me, Your Honor," Bannon said, according to NBC News.
Nichols will hand down Bannon's sentence when the hearing resumes.