Ex-Trump adviser sentenced to four months in jail for contempt of Congress

Picture courtesy: Reuters

Donald Trump's former aide Steve Bannon was sentenced Friday to four months in prison for refusing to testify in the congressional probe of the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

Bannon, 68, was convicted in July on two counts - for refusing to provide either testimony or documents to a committee probing the 6 January 2021 riot at the US Capitol.

In addition to the jail time, Bannon must also now pay a fine of $6,500 (£5,833).

The longtime Trump strategist struck a defiant tone upon leaving the federal court in Washington -- lashing out at President Joe Biden and the Democratic leaders of the House of Representatives.

"Today was my judgment day by the judge," Bannon told reporters outside. "On November 8th there's going to have judgment on the illegitimate Biden regime," he vowed -- in reference to the upcoming midterm elections.

"And we know which way that is going," he said. "The Biden administration ends on the evening of the 8th of November."

He has denied any criminal wrongdoing.

Asked by reporters at the White House for a reaction to the Bannon sentencing, Biden answered dismissively: "I never have a reaction to Steve Bannon."

Hours after Bannon was sentenced, Mr Trump was formally issued his own legal summons from the January 6 panel, ordering him to testify before lawmakers about the Capitol riot.