A Jury Found Steve Bannon Guilty Of Contempt Of Congress

Steve Bannon, a high adviser to former president Donald Trump, was discovered responsible on two counts of contempt of Congress Friday for refusing to adjust to a subpoena to testify and supply paperwork to the Jan. 6 committee.

He now faces a most of 1 yr in jail for every rely.

Bannon was subpoenaed by the committee to sit down for a taped deposition on Oct. 14 to supply data on what he knew of the Jan. 6 riot, after which hand over associated paperwork on Oct. 16 — neither of which he did. He was charged with two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to adjust to the congressional subpoena.

Jurors have been finally tasked with figuring out whether or not Bannon defied the congressional subpoena on objective. After three days of arguments, a 12-person jury discovered that he did.

His sentencing date has been set for Oct. 21.

All through the weeklong trial, prosecutors argued that Bannon behaved as if he was above the legislation by defying the subpoena.

“That subpoena was not a request, it was not an invite. It was necessary,” Assistant US Legal professional Amanda Vaughn stated in her opening assertion on Tuesday. “The defendant determined he was above the legislation and determined he didn’t need to comply with the federal government’s orders like his fellow residents.”

A number of defenses that Bannon’s staff wished to place forth have been rejected by US District Choose Carl J. Nichols at a pretrial listening to earlier this month. Ultimately, his legal professionals have been allowed to solely argue whether or not Bannon knew when his response to the subpoena was due. Bannon’s request to delay the trial by three months was additionally denied.

Throughout opening statements, Bannon’s lawyer, Evan Corcoran, argued that Bannon was nonetheless in negotiations with the committee when he was slapped with contempt of Congress prices.

“The dates on the subpoena weren’t fastened,” Corcoran stated. “They have been versatile.”

Prosecutors known as two witnesses to the stand: Kristin Amerling, the choose committee’s chief counsel, and FBI Particular Agent Stephen Hart, who reviewed Bannon’s public statements in regards to the subpoena. Amerling testified that the committee solely heard from Bannon after he had missed the primary deadline to reply. Hart talked about Bannon’s social media posts in regards to the subpoena and stated that Bannon’s legal professional didn’t counsel that there was any flexibility within the dates on the subpoena.

Bannon’s lawyer didn’t current a protection, and he didn’t take the stand.

Outdoors the courthouse, Bannon publicly railed in opposition to the choose committee. He dismissed it as a “present trial” after jury choice on Monday, and loudly criticized the committee and its chair, Rep. Benny Thompson, exterior the courthouse within the following days, together with questioning whether or not Thompson’s current COVID-19 analysis was actual.