A federal jury on Friday found former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon guilty of contempt for ignoring subpoenas from the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection.
After three hours of deliberations, the jury found Bannon guilty on two counts of contempt of Congress, which carry a minimum sentence of 30 days behind bars and fines of up to $100,000.
Bannon’s team rested their case on Thursday without calling any defense witnesses — including Bannon himself — and instead asked the judge to acquit him, according to The Associated Press.
Assistant US Attorney Molly Gaston said during closing arguments that the subpoenas were straightforward and that Bannon chose to blow them off.
“Our government only works if people show up. It only works if people play by the rules, and it only works if people are held accountable when they do not,” Gaston said, according to NBC News.
After the House January 6 committee issued his subpoenas, Bannon was quoted by The Daily Mail as responding: “I stand with Trump and the Constitution.”
Later on Friday, the heads of the committee, chairman Bennie Thompson and vice chair Liz Cheney released a joint statement calling Bannon’s conviction a “victory for the rule of law and an important affirmation of the select committee’s work”.
“As the prosecutor stated, Steve Bannon ‘chose allegiance to Donald Trump over compliance with the law,’” they continued. “Just as there must be accountability for all those responsible for the events of January 6th, anyone who obstructs our investigation into these matters should face consequences. No one is above the law.”
Bannon has served as Trump’s fervent supporter and unofficial adviser for years, and has bragged about his own “starring role” in the January 6 hearings.
But he has warned Trump supporters that the committee is out to get them.
“J6 [the committee] is about shutting down the army of the awakened,” he said on an episode of his podcast, War Room. It’s “shutting down Trump, but it’s also coming after you,” he added.