CNN) — Steve Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison on Friday for his refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the January 6 riot at the US Capitol.
And, in a strange way, it’s what he’s always wanted.
Bannon, despite doing a stint as an adviser to President Donald Trump, has always fashioned himself as an outsider to the political establishment. And he’s attempted to hone that persona since being fired from the White House in 2017.
Bannon has dug in on the completely unfounded notion of a “deep state” bureaucracy that not only controls everything that happens in Washington, but that is aggressively opposed to the rights of the people.
After the verdict was announced, Bannon was characteristically defiant.
“On November 8, there’s going to (be) judgment on the illegitimate Biden regime,” Bannon said. “And quite frankly, Nancy Pelosi and the entire committee.” He added that voters will be “weighing and measuring” the actions of the FBI as well as the congressional investigation into January 6.
Bannon also promised that he would appeal the ruling. And the judge said that Bannon would not serve his prison sentence while that appeals process plays out.
While that all plays out, you can be sure that Bannon will cast himself as not only a political prisoner, but someone unfairly punished by anti-Trump forces for his unwillingness to turn on the former President. (Bannon has argued he couldn’t comply with the congressional subpoena because his conversations with Trump are protected by executive privilege.)
Bannon lawyer David Schoen previewed how Bannon will paint himself in remarks made during the sentencing hearing. “It’s a case in which Mr. Bannon should make no apology,” said Schoen. “No American should make any apology.”
What Bannon can now say is that he believes so deeply in Trump (and in the broader idea of a conspiracy against the former President) that he is willing to go to jail to defend those views.
It gives him a street cred with his intended audience that he didn’t have before. It’s not just words now for Bannon. It’s actions, too.
The image of defiance in the face of alleged injustice is one that Bannon has always reveled in. Even when he was inside the walls of the White House, Bannon clearly chafed at the notion that he was anything other than a crusading outsider.
It’s a similar image to what Trump tries to project. The former President is heavily invested in the idea that he is constantly under persecution from ill-intended people who are willing to do whatever it takes to get him.
None of the above is to say that Bannon wants to serve prison time. He’s appealing his sentence for a reason, after all.
But what it is to say is that for someone like Bannon, being convicted and sentenced for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the January 6 committee is, depressingly, very good for business.
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