Donald Trump Breaks Silence on Steve Bannon: 'Fighting for His Country'

Donald Trump has reacted to the sentencing of Steve Bannon, saying his former White House advisor is "fighting for his Country!"

The former president posted the remark on Truth Social on Sunday night two days after Bannon was sentenced to four months in jail for contempt after he refused to comply with a subpoena issued to him by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack.

Bannon failed to comply with the subpoena and refused to hand over any documents requested by the panel while citing a defence of executive privilege.

Bannon's legal team are now attempting to appeal his conviction on the basis that Bannon was relying on advice from his former attorney to claim he did not have to comply with the subpoena because he could not waive executive privilege, and therefore should be punished.

During sentencing on Friday, District Judge Carl Nichols accepted that Bannon was following "misguided" legal advice and deferred serving his sentence while he appeals his conviction, Reuters reported.

On Sunday night, Trump wrote on social media "Like so many others, Steve is fighting for his Country!" while sharing a blog post from right-wing author and attorney Gregg Jarrett arguing that Bannon has a case for his contempt conviction to be quashed.

"If a defendant believes his response to the subpoena is lawful, then he cannot be convicted," Jarrett wrote.

"Bannon relied on advice from his lawyer that he could not testify because of executive privilege. Thus, Bannon thought he was acting lawfully. As long as he relied on that advice in good faith, he did not violate the law and should never have been held in contempt and convicted."

Trump also shared the same link earlier on Sunday night with the caption: "Here are the facts on the Steve Bannon case."

In his sentencing remarks, judge Nichols said that even though Bannon was following advice from his lawyer, the top Trump ally has "still not produced a single document to the committee," more than a year after the subpoena was issued to him by the January 6 panel and Bannon still "has not provided any testimony on any topic."

Nichols added that at the time Bannon was subpoenaed, he was a "private citizen who was not employed" in the White House "for several years," a key factor in the argument why Bannon could not be protected over executive privilege.

Criminal defense attorney Rachel Fiset said Bannon's appeal process will be be lengthy, suggesting the Trump ally could be playing a "stalling game" in the hope that a new president may ultimately officer him a pardon.

"I do get the feeling the judge was trying to walk a line between the prosecutors' request and Bannon's request, and at the same time send a message going forward for future congressional hearings relating to Jan. 6 and other issues regarding Trump's presidency," Fiset told Newsweek.

"The judge is sending a clear message that he doesn't buy Bannon's claims that he was protected under executive privilege when he had not been an official advisor to Trump for years prior to January 6."