For violating the January 6 Committee, the Department of Justice recommends that former Trump advisor and War Room host Steve Bannon be sentenced to six months in jail and a $200,000 fine.
In July, Bannon was found guilty of contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with a committee subpoena.
In its proposal, the Department of Justice asserted that Bannon “has pursued a bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt.”
The Department of Justice also said that Bannon “flouted the Committee’s authority and ignored the subpoena’s demands.”
The recommendation added, “to this day the Defendant has not produced a single document to the Committee or appeared for testimony. 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.”
Now: Justice Department recommends six months in prison + $200k fine for Trump ally Steve Bannon. pic.twitter.com/zLliA6xifW
— Ryan Barber (@cryanbarber) October 17, 2022
The committee subpoenaed Bannon in part because he had prophesied on his podcast that “All Hell is going to break loose tomorrow” – a statement that was widely held at the time.
Chairs of the committee, anti-Trump neocon Liz Cheney and Democrat Bennie G. Thompson, issued a joint statement celebrating Bannon’s conviction after he was found guilty.
“The conviction of Steve Bannon is a victory for the rule of law and an important affirmation of the Select Committee’s work,” Thompson and Cheney said in a joint statement at the time. “Just as there must be accountability for all those responsible for the events of January 6th, anyone who obstructs our investigation into these matters should face consequences.”
Bannon is due to be punished on October 21, 2022, exactly one year after the House found him in contempt.