Steve Bannon sentenced to 4 months in prison for defying January 6 subpoena

Long-time Donald Trump ally refused to provide evidence to US House committee investigating attack on Capitol

Steve Bannon, a former chief strategist for Donald Trump, was sentenced to four months in prison on Friday after he was convicted of contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena related to a US House of Representatives investigation into the January 6 insurrection.

Before Friday's sentencing, the US federal judge said Bannon had expressed no remorse over his actions relating to the Capitol riot.

He was also ordered to pay a $6,500 fine.

Bannon has two weeks to file his appeals, which his lawyers say they intend to do. If he fails to do so, he will be required to turn himself in by November 15.

He declined to address the judge before his sentencing but delivered defiant remarks outside the courthouse, saying the midterm elections will be the Democratic Party's day of proverbial judgment.

"Today was my judgment day by the judge," Bannon told reporters.

"But ... on November 8, they are going to have judgment on the illegitimate Biden regime, and quite frankly, [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi and the entire committee."

Bannon was convicted in July on two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to appear in a deposition and another for refusing to provide documents.

Prosecutors accused Bannon of pursuing a “bad faith strategy” by seeking to delay the proceedings. The former Trump adviser has yet to provide testimony or documents to the House committee, prosecutors wrote.

The January 6 committee had sought evidence from Bannon over his involvement in Mr Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result.

Video footage aired by the January 6 committee during a public hearing showed Bannon was apparently aware of the violence to come on the day Mr Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol.

“All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. Just understand this: all hell is going to break loose tomorrow,” he said on his podcast the day before January 6.

Bannon's lawyers said he was bound by executive privilege. That argument was rejected by both the House committee and the judge overseeing the case, as Bannon was sacked as chief White House strategist by Mr Trump in 2017 and was a private citizen when he consulted with the former president before the assault.

The January 6 committee has sought evidence from other members of Mr Trump's circle including former White House adviser Peter Navarro.

Mr Navarro was charged with contempt of Congress after failing to comply with the January 6 committee's subpoena. He faces a trial start date of November 17.

Reuters contributed to this report