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By Zoe Strozewski
Staff Writer
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After former Trump administration official, Steve Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison and fined $6,500 in a Washington, D.C. courtroom, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder began trending on Twitter as users compared the outcomes of their two cases.
Bannon received his sentence on Friday after being found guilty in July on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena issued to him regarding the investigation into the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Holder, a Democrat who served in former President Barack Obama's administration, was held in contempt by the House in June 2012 "for failing to disclose internal Justice Department documents in response to a subpoena." The White House and Justice Department did not attempt to criminally prosecute Holder after the contempt citation, CNN reported.
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"Double standards are the DOJ's only standard!," one Twitter user, @Pscc8082, tweeted Friday after comparing Bannon's case to Holder's.
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When Holder was held in contempt during Obama's tenure, it was the first time that Congress had sanctioned a sitting member of a president's cabinet. His citation came after he did not heed a subpoena related to Operation Fast and Furious, a failed attempt to track weapons purchases by cartels.
"Bannon gets 4 months in prison for defying an outwardly partisan kangaroo court," Newsmax host Rob Schmitt tweeted Friday, seemingly referring to the House committee investigating January 6. "How much time did Eric Holder get for Contempt of Congress? Can't remember..."
Author and retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, Buzz Patterson, also weighed in.
"Steve Bannon was sentenced to 4 months in prison for "contempt of court," he tweeted. "I don't remember Eric Holder spending any time when he was similarly convicted."
Even before Bannon received his sentence on Friday, some social media users decried the fact that he was facing punishment.
Representative Darrell Issa, who led the investigation that brought the contempt charge against Holder in 2012, tweeted Monday: "When Eric Holder and Lois Lerner defy Congressional subpoenas, the DOJ does nothing. But the DOJ goes after Republicans with indictments and prison."
Lois Lerner was a former IRS official also held in contempt by the House of Representatives in 2014, but the Justice Department decided not to seek criminal charges against her, Politico reported.
Newsweek reached out to Holder via the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, for which he serves as chair, for comment.
Updated 10/21/22, 12:50 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information and background.
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