Former Federal Prosecutor Calls Steve Bannon ‘A Consummate Jackass’ Who Will ‘Eventually Do Time’
Steve Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison and ordered to pay a $6,500 fine on Friday after he was convicted in July on two counts of contempt of Congress.
The judge agreed to allow Bannon to remain free pending an appeal.
Last year, the Jan. 6 House select committee investigating the 2021 insurrection subpoenaed Bannon, who thumbed his nose at the panel. The former adviser to Donald Trump participated in meetings at a “war room” at the Willard Hotel in the days leading up to the storming of the Capitol.
Bannon could have appeared before the committee and invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Instead, he ignored the subpoena altogether, opening him up to the contempt of Congress charges.
Nicolle Wallace addressed Bannon’s sentence on Friday’s Deadline: White House.
“The judge today said he’s allowed Bannon to walk free while his lawyers appeal the sentence,” the MSNBC host. “Do you think Steve Bannon serves time for his crimes?”
“I do,” responded Jim Walden, a former federal prosecutor. “There were two witnesses. The jury convicted him in less than three hours. There are no serious appellate issues. I think the appeals court is going to uphold this conviction and he’s going to go to jail.”
Wallace turned to another former federal prosecutor, Harry Litman.
“And Harry, is that a good thing?” she asked. “Does it prove the system works, or do you think this is a sort of badge or honor? Or does it not matter?”
“No, it matters,” Litman replied. “Look, he’s a consummate jackass and he acted contentiously all the way through. But, I agree with Jim. He’ll eventually do time, but he caught a major break from the judge because, as Jim says, there are no substantial issues there. But the judge nevertheless held there were. And that’s what keeps him out of jail while the appeal is pending. That’s the luckiest break in the headline of the sentencing.”
Wallace told Litman, “Anyone that can work jackass into a block about Steve Bannon is my hero for the day.”
Watch above via MSNBC
