Steve Bannon found GUILTY – and his legal troubles will likely get far worse
It took a trial jury just a few hours today to unanimously conclude that Steve Bannon is GUILTY on both counts of contempt of Congress. This was no surprise, given that the DOJ’s case was airtight, and Bannon had no defense at all. Bannon may appeal this, of course. And his prison sentence will be on the shorter end, because sentencing guidelines for contempt of Congress range from 30 days to one year on each count.
But Bannon is now, finally, a convicted criminal. The last time he was arrested, Donald Trump pardoned him before he could get to trial. This time, however, there are no magic pardons. And while Bannon will surely try to spin this ugly loss as a win – because that’s always been his brand whenever he loses – this represents just the start of his legal troubles.
Bannon spent his court hearings leading up to this trial trying and failing to get the judge to force the DOJ to release more details about other ways in which it may be investigating him. In other words, Bannon very much fears that there’s a broader DOJ criminal case still being built against him, and that he’ll end up getting hit with more serious criminal charges.
In the meantime, the DOJ has now indicted, arrested, tried, and convicted a key member of Donald Trump’s inner circle for charges indirectly stemming from January 6th. It’s a start. Keep in mind that even as we wait for more charges against Bannon, the DOJ has also indicted Peter Navarro and carried out search and seizure warrants against John Eastman and Jeffrey Clark. These are all concrete steps toward closing in on Donald Trump himself – and now career criminal Steve Bannon is finally a convicted criminal.
