Steve Bannon to be sentenced for contempt of Congress | CNN Politics

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon will probably be sentenced on Friday after a federal jury discovered him responsible of contempt of Congress in July for defying a subpoena from the Home choose committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault.

Federal prosecutors need Bannon be sentenced to 6 months in jail and be fined $200,000 — harsher than the minimal sentence of 30 days in jail, in accordance with federal regulation. Bannon is searching for probation and is asking for the sentencing to be delayed pending his attraction.

Listed here are the important thing issues to know in regards to the case and conviction:

The decision: After practically two days of listening to proof and witness testimony, the jury reached a unanimous verdict on the 2 contempt prices in lower than three hours.

Bannon smiled as the decision was learn, wanting backwards and forwards between the courtroom deputy and the foreperson. Bannon’s crew didn’t mount a protection in the course of the trial, and he didn’t take the stand. Talking to reporters after the conviction, his lawyer David Schoen stated they deliberate to attraction the decision, calling it a “bullet-proof attraction.”

In a Justice Division information launch touting the conviction, the US Legal professional for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves stated that the “subpoena to Stephen Bannon was not an invite that may very well be rejected or ignored.”

Why the conviction issues: It was a victory for the Home Jan. 6 choose committee because it continues to hunt the cooperation of reluctant witnesses in its historic investigation. It was additionally a victory for the Justice Division, which is below intense scrutiny for its method to issues associated to the Jan. 6 assault.

Bannon is considered one of two uncooperative Jan. 6 committee witnesses to be charged up to now by the Justice Division for contempt of Congress. Trump White Home adviser Peter Navarro was indicted by a grand jury final month for not complying with a committee subpoena and has pleaded not responsible.

Why the committee needed Bannon’s cooperation: In demanding his cooperation, the committee pointed to Bannon’s contacts with Trump within the lead-up to the Capitol assault, his presence within the so-called struggle room of Trump allies on the Willard Lodge in Washington the day earlier than the riot, and a prediction he made on his podcast earlier than the riot that “all hell” was going to “break free.”

The position of government privilege within the case: When the Home committee was demanding his cooperation, Bannon’s lawyer claimed that Trump’s said assertions of government privilege prevented Bannon from testifying or producing arguments — an argument the committee roundly rejected. Lawmakers famous that Bannon had for years not been a authorities official and pointed to their curiosity in subject areas not involving conversations with Trump.

On the trial, nonetheless, Bannon’s arguments about government privilege weren’t a central focus — at the same time as his legal professionals discovered methods to deliver consideration to the difficulty. They did so within the face of rulings from the choose deeming it largely irrelevant, below appellate precedent, to the weather of the contempt crime.