Former Trump White House strategist Steve Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison Friday, three months after his conviction on contempt of Congress charges for defying a subpoena from the partisan January 6th committee led by anti-Trump democrats and a pair of anti-Trump ‘Republicans.’
Joe Biden’s Department of Justice was asking for a 6-month prison term and recommended that he pay a fine of $200,000.
Bannon’s lawyers said in a previous court filing that “the defense learned just today” that CNN will air a one-hour documentary on Bannon on Sunday evening, the day before his trial for contempt of Congress is set to begin in Washington, D.C.
On the same day that the judge denied an extension to the trial, he also said that Bannon could not argue at trial that he failed to comply with the subpoena on the grounds of executive privilege, and barred him from calling House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and members of the Jan. 6 panel as witnesses.
Bannon, who served just seven months as a top White House adviser to Trump, faces at least 30 days in jail if convicted of the two contempt charges he faces.
Bannon’s lawyers previously said lawmakers at a House committee hearing showed video excerpts of him speaking on his podcast on Jan. 5, 2021, that had been “edited for maximum inflammatory effect.”
The sentencing received immediate backlash as many are accusing the democrats of committing political persecution, jailing conservatives who support Donald Trump, or speak out against the Biden Regime.
More on the CNN report that ran on the eve of Bannon’s trial:
“The Special Report on Mr. Bannon, broadcast on the eve of trial is being widely promoted with a trailer and special announcements by key CNN hosts,” the filing said.
A CNN trailer for the special shows Bannon saying, “We will govern for 100 years,” the filing noted.
A narrator then says in the trailer, “In rare interviews, CNN investigates the man and his master plan,” and a video clip shows former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale saying, “Bannon’s calling the plays.”
Bannon’s lawyers wrote, “The teaser uses the term ‘Master Plan’ to describe Mr. Bannon’s purported machinations, with clearly intentional reference to this well-known weighted term referring to history’s most diabolical plot.”
That sentence ends with a footnote to a description of a book titled, “Hitler’s Masterplan, 1933-1945,” which the publisher’s description said detailed “Hitler’s unrealized vision for a Europe dominated by the Third Reich.”
Bannon’s lawyers wrote, “The Special Report documentary, broadcast on this broadly disseminated network undoubtedly will be extraordinarily inflammatory and overwhelming prejudicial for a prospective juror, beginning service in this trial the following day.”
