Washington: Steve Bannon, a former aide of former US President Donald Trump, was on Friday sentenced to four months in prison by a court for refusing to testify in the US Congress’ investigation into the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Earlier, Trump’s adviser Steve Bannon was found guilty in July on two counts of summoning contempt of Parliament. District Judge Carl Nicholas fined Bannon $6,500 and sentenced him to four months in prison.
Bannon is believed to be the mastermind behind Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and victory. The court found Bannon guilty of two counts of contempt of the US Congress for testifying on the riots.
Federal Judge Carl Nichols rejected arguments on behalf of Bannon that Trump had never claimed executive privilege in Bannon’s case and that the events at the Capitol required an investigation.
“The events of January 6 were undeniably serious,” Nichols said before sentencing. Thus, the Committee on January 6 has every reason to look into what happened on that day.”
Further, he said, Bannon failed to cooperate with the committee on issues not affected by claims of executive privilege. Bannon has “not produced a single document . . . and have not given any testimony on any subject,” it is an ‘attack on the rule of law’.
What was the matter
On January 6, 2021, thousands of Trump supporters stormed Capitol Hill in Washington DC and disrupted a joint session of Congress in the process of confirming the 2020 presidential election results.
Dozens of people, including policemen, were injured in the incident. About 140 police officers were attacked in the Capitol attack, including about 80 US Capitol Police and 60 Metropolitan Police Departments.