“Stephen Bannon, a former top adviser to President Donald Trump, was convicted on Friday of two counts of contempt of Congress, months after he had defied a subpoena to answer questions from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol,” the New York Times reports.
“The jury deliberated for less than three hours.”
Washington Post: “The trial, which lasted a week and only featured two witnesses, tested a rarely-used criminal statute meant to ensure that people comply with congressional subpoenas. Earlier this month as he prepared for trial, Bannon had vowed to go ‘medieval’ on his enemies. But most of his legal arguments were rejected by the trial judge, and Bannon ended up calling no witnesses.”
Wall Street Journal: “He will be sentenced at a later hearing and faces a minimum sentence of 30 days and a maximum of one year in prison for each count.”
Bannon is the first to be found guilty for contempt of Congress since Attorney General Richard Kleindienst and Watergate burglar G. Gordon Liddy in 1974.
