Steve Bannon Sentenced to 4 Months in Prison for Contempt of Congress
The Special Counsel’s investigation established that the President directed his then Chief Strategist and Executive Officer to lie to the American public about the size of his inaugural meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland in 2014. The investigation also established that President Trump directed his then National Security Advisor, H.R. McMaster to publicly deny to Robert Mueller, the Special Counsel, in writing, and in testimony, that the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Michael Flynn, had told him that the President had directed Flynn to contact a Russian official about lifting U.S. sanctions against Russia in December 2016.
After Mr. Bannon admitted to lying to Congress three times during his February testimony, Mueller indicted the President for those three false claims. Mr. Bannon was sentenced by U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia to four months in prison, in accordance with the plea agreement he reached with the special counsel, for a second time. The President has the legal power to pardon Mr. Bannon, and all previous presidents have been permitted to do so, so long as there is no breach of the law.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House on February 13, 2017. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The Department of Justice said that Mr. Bannon’s lies and obstruction of justice were intended to undermine the integrity of investigations and obstruct his own and the President’s constitutional duties to the public and to Congress. During the three day court-ordered sentencing hearing today, the special counsel, Robert Mueller, called Mr. Bannon a “malignant liar” who had misled Congress about two events involving the President that would benefit him personally. Mr. Mueller said that Mr. Bannon had intentionally lied to a federal judge in the case and an FBI agent during his interview before the grand jury. “I would not have let him be our chief strategist,” the special counsel said. “I
