Steve Bannon sentenced to 4 months in jail for defying subpoena from House committee investigating January 6 Capitol riot



Steve Bannon was sentenced Friday to four months in jail for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, the Associated Press reported.

What are the details?

Bannon — a longtime confidant of and White House adviser to former President Donald Trump — also was fined $6,500 as part of the sentence, the AP said, adding that U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols allowed Bannon to stay free pending appeal.

Earlier this week the Justice Department recommended a six-month sentence and $200,000 fine for Bannon, who was found guilty in July of two charges of contempt of Congress by a federal jury.

The AP said Nichols imposed the sentence after saying the law was clear that contempt of Congress is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of at least one month behind bars; Bannon’s lawyers had argued the judge could instead have sentenced him to probation.

“In my view, Mr. Bannon has not taken responsibility for his actions,” Nichols said before he announced the sentence, the AP noted.

More from the outlet:

The House panel had sought Bannon’s testimony over his involvement in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Bannon has yet to testify or provide any documents to the committee, prosecutors wrote.

Prosecutors argued Bannon, 68, deserved the longer sentence because he had pursued a “bad faith strategy” and his public statements disparaging the committee itself made it clear he wanted to undermine their effort to get to the bottom of the violent attack and keep anything like it from happening again.

“He chose to hide behind fabricated claims of executive privilege and advice of counsel to thumb his nose at Congress,” prosecutor J.P. Cooney said, according to the AP.

Bannon’s lawyer, David Schoen, argued that his client did what his lawyer told him to do under Trump’s executive privilege objections, the outlet said.

“Quite frankly, Mr. Bannon should make no apology. No American should make any apology for the manner in which Mr. Bannon proceeded in this case,” Schoen also said, according to the AP.

The outlet added that Schoen also defended Bannon’s public remarks about the committee: “Telling the truth about this committee or speaking one’s mind about this committee, it’s not only acceptable in this country, it’s an obligation if one believes it to be true."

'Illegitimate regime'

“This illegitimate regime, their judgment day is on 8 November when the Biden administration ends," Bannon told reporters as he walked into court Friday, the AP said.

After the hearing, Bannon said he believed Attorney General Merrick Garland would be impeached, the outlet added.

Anything else?

After his July guilty verdict, Bannon told Fox News' Tucker Carlson, "If I go to jail, I go to jail. I will never back off. ... I support Trump and the Constitution, and I'm not backing off one inch."

He added during the TV appearance that "the law is with us" and warned viewers "they're coming for everybody. ... This is an ideological war and we cannot lose. The fate of the country is over the next couple years."

\u201cSteve Bannon joined us for his first interview since his guilty verdict.\u201d
— Tucker Carlson (@Tucker Carlson) 1658608218

Jussie Smollett believes his skin color is why he got jail time for staging hate crime against himself, lying to cops, sources say



Jussie Smollett believes he got 150 days in jail for staging a racist, homophobic hate crime against himself — and then lying to cops and courts about it — because he's black, sources close to the former "Empire" star told TMZ.

The sources added that Smollett anticipated getting jail time and also told his defense team before sentencing he believed he'd be treated more harshly than others convicted of non-violent crimes due to his skin color — and that it's evidence of systemic racism in the judicial system, the outlet reported.

Image source: YouTube screenshot, composite

What's the background?

Smollett, 39 — who is black and gay — made national headlines for claiming a pair of supporters of then-President Donald Trump physically attacked him near his apartment in Chicago in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2019.

He claimed the two men wearing ski masks confronted him as he was leaving a Subway restaurant around 2 a.m. in below-freezing conditions and yelled, "Aren't you that f***ot 'Empire' n*****?" before beating him up, putting a rope around his neck, pouring bleach on him, and hollering, "This is MAGA country!" — a reference to Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.

But once a police investigation began, Smollett's story began to crumble. In December a jury found him guilty on five of six counts of felony disorderly conduct for his costly charade — crimes that could have resulted in three years behind bars. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Smollett likely will serve only half of his 150-day sentence since his jail term is eligible for “day-for-day” credit for good behavior.

In addition to jail time, Cook County Judge James Linn last week sentenced Smollett to 30 months of probation and ordered him to pay $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago as well as a $25,000 fine.

Prior to issuing his sentence, Judge Linn eviscerated Smollett, calling him a "charlatan" and telling him "your hypocrisy is astounding" and "you wanted to make yourself more famous" through the elaborate, "premeditated" caper and then "you threw a national pity party for yourself." But the worst part, Linn said, was that Smollett lied to authorities about it all — and then committed perjury on the witness stand.

But after he was sentenced, Smollett continued his defiance, standing up and shaking his finger and telling Linn and the courtroom that "I am innocent, and I am not suicidal! If I did this, then it means that I stuck my fist in the fears of black Americans in this country for over 400 years and the fears of the LGBTQ community!”

Smollett added, “I did not do this, and I am not suicidal. And if anything happens to me when I go in [jail], I did not do it to myself. And you must all know that ... I am not suicidal.”

Then the singer offered a grand finale, raising his fist as he was led out of the courtroom and flat-out hollering in the process: "I am not suicidal! I am not suicidal! And I am innocent! I could've said I was guilty a long time ago!"

Jussie Smollett has courtroom outburst after judge sentences him to jail | ABC7youtu.be

TMZ, citing its sources, said Smollett declared he wasn't suicidal because he wanted the public to know that if something happens to him in jail, it's due to foul play — and that Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in jail, also was on his mind.

Anything else?

Jocqui Smollett said Saturday that his brother was placed in the psychiatric ward at the Cook County Jail in Chicago due to "being at risk of self-harm," Fox News reported.

But Jocqui Smollett insisted that "he is in no way, shape, or form at risk of self-harm. He wants to let folks know that he is very stable, he is very strong, he is very healthy and ready to take on the challenge that... has been put up against him," the cable network reported.

Still, Smollett was placed in protective custody in the jail, separated from other inmates and monitored by security cameras and an officer, authorities added to Fox News.

Meanwhile, Taraji P. Henson — a fellow "Empire" cast member — said Smollett's imprisonment is unfair and compared him to Emmett Till, a black teen who was brutally murdered in the 1950s and became an icon of the civil rights movement after his killers were acquitted.

"I am not here to debate you on his innocence, but we can agree that the punishment does not fit the crime," Henson wrote on Instagram with a "FreeJussie" hashtag. "Emmett Till was brutally beat and ultimately murdered because of a lie, and none of the people involved with his demise spent one day in jail, even after Carolyn Bryant admitted that her claims were false. No one was hurt or killed during Jussie’s ordeal. ... My prayer is that he is freed and put on house arrest and probation because in this case that would seem fair."

And about a dozen Smollett supporters rallied outside Cook County Jail on Sunday to protest him being placed behind bars, WFLD-TV reported, adding that protesters said the judicial system is racist and that Smollett should not serve any jail time.

Jussie Smollett sentenced for false police reports | Nightlineyoutu.be

'What a marvelous performance!': Observers react to Jussie Smollett's jaw-dropping courtroom outburst after he's sentenced to jail



After Cook County Judge James Linn told Jussie Smollett he'd be starting 150 days in jail right then and there Thursday night for staging a hate crime against himself in 2019 and lying to police about the hoax, Smollett turned more than a few heads with a bizarre soliloquy of sorts.

'I am not suicidal!'

"I am not suicidal," Smollett said quietly to the judge. Then he repeated the phrase in a raised voice. Then Smollett said, "I am not suicidal," once again, even more sharply.

"I am innocent, and I am not suicidal," he continued as he stood up, shaking his finger. "If I did this, then it means that I stuck my fist in the fears of black Americans in this country for over 400 years and the fears of the LGBTQ community!”

Image source: YouTube screenshot, composite

Smollett added, “I did not do this, and I am not suicidal. And if anything happens to me when I go in [jail], I did not do it to myself. And you must all know that ... I am not suicidal.”

Then the singer and ex-star of "Empire" offered a grand finale, raising his fist as he was led out of the courtroom and flat-out hollering in the process: "I am not suicidal! I am not suicidal! And I am innocent! I could've said I was guilty a long time ago!"

Jussie Smollett has courtroom outburst after judge sentences him to jail | ABC7youtu.be

How did observers react to Smollett's outburst?

As you might imagine, a number of notable individuals reacted strongly to Smollett's behavior after his sentencing.

Actor and comedian Terrance K. Williams posted a video of himself wide-eyed as he took in Smollett's outburst and then cracked up by the end of it.

"Oh Lord! ... What a marvelous performance!" Williams bellowed, trying to catch his breath. "Man! You do some really great acting, Jussie, Jessie, Juicy, whatever your name is. Listen, man. You're going to jail! [laughs more] Oh Lord ... Juicy, Jussie is goin' to jail! He's [gonna] be locked up, they won't let him out, they won't let him out! Listen, that's what you get. You're going to jail — na na na na, hey hey, goodbye!"

After a remark about soap we won't repeat here, Williams added that he was having a mediocre day — until the sentencing: "I feel so much better! I just feel great! ... Now this is what you call justice right here, OK? He shouldn't have been lying. He shouldn't have been making up fake stuff about Trump supporters."

Grab the Popcorn! Jussie Smollett was just sentenced to Jail and threw a Temper Tantrum in courtpic.twitter.com/3VXZHq92Fj
— Terrence K. Williams (@Terrence K. Williams) 1646968870

After Smollett's dramatic outburst, Gregg Jarrett — legal and political analyst for Fox News — tweeted that it demonstrated "his acting skills are no better than his lying skills."

Siraj Hashmi — tongue fully in cheek — noted that Smollett is "misunderstood. He’s not a liar, he’s just an incredibly talented method actor who cannot break character under any circumstances."

Lawyer and YouTuber Viva Frei observed that Smollett "appealed to the Ukraine war, the Holocaust, racism, homophobia… and in so doing, exploited all of those injustices for his own selfish & dishonest aspirations. He then raised his fist in defiance as he left the court room. Shameless narcissism to the bitter end."

Breitbart's Alana Mastrangelo wondered if Smollett was "auditioning for a new role?"

Social media pundit Gad Saad concluded after watching Smollett's outburst that "the level of malignant narcissism that this grotesque cretin exhibited is astounding. He has zero sense of shame. He is a Munchausen psychopath."

Anything else?

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Smollett likely will serve only half the 150-day sentence since his jail term is eligible for “day-for-day” credit for good behavior. In addition to jail time, Smollett also will serve 30 months of probation and pay $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago as well as a $25,000 fine.

Smollett, 39 — who is black and gay — made national headlines for claiming a pair of supporters of then-President Donald Trump physically attacked him near his apartment in Chicago in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2019.

He claimed the two men wearing ski masks confronted him as he was leaving a Subway restaurant around 2 a.m. in below freezing conditions and yelled, "Aren't you that f***ot 'Empire' n*****?" before beating him up, putting a rope around his neck, pouring bleach on him, and hollering, "This is MAGA country!" — a reference to Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.

But once a police investigation began, Smollett's story began to crumble.

Prior to issuing his sentence, Judge Linn eviscerated Smollett, calling him a "charlatan" and telling him "your hypocrisy is astounding" and "you wanted to make yourself more famous" through the elaborate, "premeditated" caper and then "you threw a national pity party for yourself." But the worst part, the judge said, was that Smollett lied to authorities about it all — and then committed perjury on the witness stand.