DOJ calls for six-month sentence for Trump ally Steve Bannon

The Justice Department is recommending that Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser, be sentenced to six months in jail and a $200,000 fine after he defied a subpoena to testify before the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack.

Monday's court filing by the DOJ argues that Bannon "exacerbated" the attack on the Capitol by evading the committee's subpoena and that he did not fully comply with the DOJ's own pre-sentencing investigation, accusing him of "a bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt."

As a response to DOJ, Bannon lawyers for Bannon asked for probation and to stay out of prison pending an appeal.

They say he believed the former president asserted executive privilege to bar his testimony.

Bannon was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress this summer and is expected to be formally sentenced Oct. 21.

Trump's former aide was subpoenaed last year by the committee, along with other Trump associates, for an alleged meeting at the Willard Hotel near the White House the night before Jan. 6.

Congress later voted to refer Bannon for criminal contempt of Congress, and he was indicted three weeks later by DOJ. Specifically, Bannon faced one count for failing to appear for a deposition and another for refusing to hand over documents. [Copyright 2022 NPR]