WASHINGTON-- Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, was convicted Friday of contempt charges for defying a congressional subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Bannon, 68, was convicted after a four-day trial in federal court on two counts: one for refusing to appear for a deposition and the other for refusing to provide documents in response to the committee's subpoena. The jury of eight men and four women deliberated just under three hours.
He faces up to two years in federal prison when he's sentenced Oct. 21. Each count carries a minimum sentence of 30 days in jail.
David Schoen, one of Bannon's lawyers, said outside the courthouse that the verdict would not stand.
"This is round one," Schoen said. "You will see this case reversed on appeal."
Likewise, Bannon said, "We may have lost the battle here today. We're not going to lose this war."
He thanked the jurors for their service and said he had only one disappointment -- "and that is the gutless members of that show trial committee, the J-6 committee, didn't have the guts to come down here and testify."
Prosecutors were just as firm on the other side of the verdict.
"The subpoena to Stephen Bannon was not an invitation that could be rejected or ignored," Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney in Washington, said in a statement. "Mr. Bannon had an obligation to appear before the House Select Committee to give testimony and provide documents. His refusal to do so was deliberate, and now a jury has found that he must pay the consequences."
The committee sought Bannon's testimony over his involvement in Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Bannon had initially argued that his testimony was protected by Trump's claim of executive privilege. But the House panel and the Justice Department contend that such a claim is dubious because Trump fired Bannon from the White House in 2017 and Bannon was thus a private citizen when he was consulting with the then-president in the run-up to the riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Bannon's lawyers tried to argue during the trial that he didn't refuse to cooperate and that the dates "were in flux." They pointed to the fact that Bannon had reversed course shortly before the trial kicked off -- after Trump waived his objection -- and had offered to testify before the committee.
In closing arguments Friday morning, both sides reemphasized their primary positions from the trial. The prosecution maintained that Bannon willfully ignored clear and explicit deadlines, and the defense claimed Bannon believed those deadlines were flexible and subject to negotiation.
Bannon was served with a subpoena on Sept. 23, 2021, ordering him to provide requested documents to the committee by Oct. 7 and appear in person by Oct. 14. Bannon was indicted in November on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress, a month after the Justice Department received the House panel's referral.
Despite the legal wranglings that preceded his trial, Bannon's guilt or innocence ultimately turned on a straightforward question: whether he had defied the House committee by flouting its subpoena.
"This case is not complicated, but it is important," Molly Gaston, a federal prosecutor, said in a closing statement Friday.
Gaston told the jury that the House committee had wanted to ask Bannon about his presence at the Willard Hotel before the Capitol attack, where plans to overturn the election were discussed, and about his statement the day before the assault that "all hell" was going to break loose Jan. 6.
But, she argued, Bannon had blatantly disregarded the committee's demands in order to protect his former boss. Bannon remained defiant in remarks outside the courthouse, saying the prosecution's assertion that he had chosen "allegiance to Donald Trump over compliance with the law" was correct, but omitted an important detail.
"I stand with Trump and the Constitution," Bannon said. "I will never back off that."
Bannon's attorney Evan Corcoran told jurors Friday in his closing arguments that those deadlines were mere "placeholders" while lawyers on each side negotiated terms.
Corcoran said the committee "rushed to judgment" because it "wanted to make an example of Steve Bannon."
Corcoran also hinted that the government's main witness, Jan. 6 committee chief counsel Kristin Amerling, was personally biased. Amerling acknowledged on the stand that she is a lifelong Democrat and has been friends with one of the prosecutors for years.
THOMPSON A TARGET
Jan. 6 Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., was a particular target for Bannon and his defense team.
His name was brought up multiple times during the trial, although U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols had warned the defense not to claim in court that the committee itself was politically biased.
Bannon criticized Thompson by name in his daily statements outside the courthouse, at one point implying that Thompson's covid-19 diagnosis last week was faked to avoid pressure to appear.
Thompson and committee vice chairwoman Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., hailed the verdict in a statement, calling it "a victory for the rule of law and an important affirmation of the Select Committee's work."
"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," they said. "No one is above the law."
Prosecutors focused on the series of letters exchanged between the Jan. 6 committee and Bannon's lawyers. The correspondence shows Thompson immediately dismissing Bannon's claim that he was exempted by Trump's claim of executive privilege and explicitly threatening Bannon with criminal prosecution.
"The defense wants to make this hard, difficult and confusing," Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Vaughn said in her closing statement. "This is not difficult. This is not hard. There were only two witnesses because it's as simple as it seems."
The proceeding came down to the simple fact that Bannon had "thumbed his nose" at the law, prosecutors said.
The defense Thursday motioned for an acquittal, saying the prosecution had not proved its case. In making his motion for acquittal before Nichols, Bannon attorney Corcoran said that "no reasonable juror could conclude that Mr. Bannon refused to comply."
Once the motion was made, the defense rested its case without calling any witnesses, telling Nichols that Bannon saw no point in testifying since the judge's previous rulings had gutted his planned avenues of defense. Among other things, Bannon's team was barred from claiming Bannon believed he was shielded by executive privilege or calling as witnesses House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or members of the House panel.
Bannon previously was the beneficiary of a pardon from Trump in his final hours as president.
In 2020, Bannon had been pulled from a yacht off the Connecticut coast and taken to Manhattan to face charges that he duped thousands of donors who believed their money would be used to fulfill Trump's campaign promise to build a wall along the southern border.
Instead, he was accused of diverting more than a million dollars, paying a salary to one campaign official and personal expenses for himself. His co-defendants were not pardoned.
Information for this article was contributed by Ashraf Khalil, Michael Balsamo, Gary Fields and Eric Tucker of The Associated Press and by Aishvarya Kavi and Alan Feuer of The New York Times.
Steve Bannon departs the federal court in Washington, Thursday, July 21, 2022. Bannon was brought to trial on a pair of federal charges for criminal contempt of Congress after refusing to cooperate with the House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Former White House strategist Steve Bannon accompanied by his attorneys David Schoen, left and M. Evan Corcoran speaks with the media as he departs the federal court after a jury found him guilty on both counts in his contempt-of-Congress trial in Washington, Friday, July 22, 2022. Bannon was brought to trial on a pair of federal charges for criminal contempt of Congress after refusing to cooperate with the House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Former White House strategist Steve Bannon, center, walks to speak with reporters as he departs federal court on Friday, July 22, 2022, in Washington. Accompanying Bannon are his attorneys David Schoen, left, and M. Evan Corcoran. Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump has been convicted of contempt charges for defying a congressional subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Former White House strategist Steve Bannon departs federal court after a jury found him guilty on both counts in his contempt-of-Congress trial in Washington, Friday, July 22, 2022. Bannon was brought to trial on a pair of federal charges for criminal contempt of Congress after refusing to cooperate with the House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Former White House strategist Steve Bannon departs federal court after a jury found him guilty on both counts in his contempt-of-Congress trial, Friday, July 22, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Former White House strategist Steve Bannon, pauses as he departs federal court on Friday, July 22, 2022, in Washington. Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump has been convicted of contempt charges for defying a congressional subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)