Politics

(NEW YORK) — After nearly 100 consecutive days of falling gas prices, fuel costs have spiked in recent weeks.

This time, the price increase coincides with the lead up to the midterm elections — and the trend could determine which party gains control of Congress.

The approval rating of President Joe Biden — an indicator of Democrat’s election prospects — has tracked closely with gas prices. In conjunction with a monthslong fall in prices from their summer peak, Biden’s approval surged.

Since the increase in prices took hold two weeks ago, when OPEC+ announced a cut in oil output, disapproval of President Joe Biden has risen 1.1 percentage points, according to FiveThirtyEight.

On Wednesday, Biden announced moves that aim to address the oil supply shortage behind the cost spike, including a scheduled release of millions of barrels of oil from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR.

But the price of gas — and the recent movement of that price — varies dramatically across key midterm states. In some states, like New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, prices have barely increased or even fallen over the last month.

Here’s a look at the key midterm states where gas prices have spiked significantly in recent weeks, and what candidates are saying about the rising costs:

Arizona

In Arizona, a swing state host to highly contested races for governor and Senate, the price of a gallon of gas stands at $4.40 — a figure roughly 15% higher than the national average of $3.82, according to AAA. Moreover, the price of gas in Arizona has risen more than 8% over the past month.

Blake Masters, a Republican candidate for Senate, condemned the gas price spike on Wednesday in a tweet critical of his opponent, incumbent Democrat Mark Kelly, as well as Biden.

“Now in a desperate bid to try to save the midterms they’re squandering our strategic reserve,” Masters said. Biden retains sole authority over releases from the SPR, which currently stands at 57% capacity, according to the Energy Information Administration, or EIA.

Kelly, meanwhile, acknowledged the elevated prices last week, citing a general supply bottleneck. “From groceries to the gas we pump into our cars, it feels like everything is too expensive right now,” he said. “I’m working in the Senate to fix our supply chains and bring down costs for Arizona’s working families.”

Wisconsin

In Wisconsin, where a high-stakes Senate race could determine which party holds the chamber, the price of a gallon of gas stands at $3.67, AAA data showed. While that price falls below the national average, it reflects a recent surge of more than 5% over the past month.

Republican incumbent Senator Ron Johnson, first elected in 2010, has attributed the high gas prices to spending increases and environmentally friendly initiatives supported by Democrats.

Earlier this month, Johnson said: “Make no mistake, this is the result of Democrats’ reckless deficit spending and radical green energy policies.”

To address the gas prices, Democratic candidate Mandela Barnes, the state’s Lieutenant Governor, says on his campaign website he would end government subsidies for oil and gas companies, which he claims have enabled high profits.

Ohio

Another key battleground state is Ohio, where a close Senate race features author and venture capitalist J.D. Vance, a Republican, and Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan.

Gas prices in Ohio stand at $3.71, nearly 10 cents below the national average. AAA data showed. But the price has jumped about 7% over the last month.

In a debate between the two Senate candidates, on Monday, Vance faulted the Biden administration and Congressional Democrats for impeding investment in the U.S. energy sector that could increase oil output and bring down prices.

“That rising energy price that people see at the pump, that people see in your utility bills, that our farmers see when they’re paying more for diesel,” Vance said. “That was the direct result of policies enacted by Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi and supported 100% by Tim Ryan.”

Oil production in the U.S. last year was nearly identical to that seen over the final year of the Trump administration, in 2020, and greater than the amount produced in 2017 or 2018, according to data from the EIA.

Ryan, meanwhile, cited his vote for the Inflation Reduction Act, which is projected to cut the deficit over a 10-year period and slightly reduce inflation, according to the Wharton School of Business at Pennsylvania University.

To provide short term cost relief, Ryan called for a tax cut for working families that would ease the pain imposed by higher prices. “This is an opportunity for us to put more money in people’s pockets,” he said at the debate.

California

California, the state with the highest gas prices, could determine which party retains control of the House of Representatives. The state plays host to three toss-up House races, according to the Cook Political Report.

Gas prices in California stand at $5.83 per gallon, which puts the price about 52% higher than the national average, according to AAA data. That price has spiked nearly 8% over the past month.

In one of the toss-up House races, the Oakland-area 13th district, two challengers seek a seat left open by the retirement of longtime Democratic Representative Barbara Lee.

Adam Gray, a Democratic state assembly member running for the seat, faulted California’s tax credit system, which he said in a debate last month offers a tax break for wealthy Tesla purchasers but leaves working-class people straining to afford high gas prices.

“We need to have a renewable energy policy that actually doesn’t balance its book on the folks who can least afford to pay the bill,” he said.

On the other hand, Republican candidate John Duarte, a farmer, blamed the high gas prices on environment-friendly Democratic policies that he says have limited oil supply.

“We need to develop domestic energy as a matter of opportunity and affordability for families,” he said at the debate.

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(NEW YORK) — Despite a gradual upward trend in military suicides over the last decade, 2021 saw a more than 15% decrease for active duty service members, according to a new Defense Department report.

“For the active component there was over a 15% decrease in the rate of suicides from 2020 to 2021,” said Beth Foster, executive director for DOD’s Office of Force Resiliency in a briefing Thursday. “Young enlisted male service members remain at greatest risk.”

Pentagon data counts 326 instances of suicide in the active duty force in 2021, down from 384 in 2020.

The department took steps to lower suicide risk across the force in 2021, including awareness programs, boosts in quality of life, and efforts to reduce the stigma of seeking help. The improvement has been heartening, but Pentagon officials believe there’s more to be done.

“While we are cautiously encouraged by the drop in these numbers, one year is not enough time to assess real change,” Foster said.

Though military suicide rates have trended upward since 2011, it has been essentially on par with that of the U.S. population, when accounting for age and sex.

The Pentagon controls for age and sex to help make a more apples-to-apples comparison between the U.S. population and the military, which is disproportionately made up of young males, who are generally more likely to take their own lives.

“Without standardizing for age or sex differences between the military and the U.S. population and then adjusting for age and sex differences in suicide rates within the military, the comparisons between the unadjusted or crude rates in the military and the U.S. population suicide rates would be misleading or distorted,” the DOD report noted.

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(WASHINGTON) — Donald Trump has been formally subpoenaed by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The subpoena requires Trump to turn over documents by Nov. 4 and to appear for one or several days of deposition under oath beginning on Nov. 14.

“We recognize that a subpoena to a former President is a significant and historic step,” Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., wrote in a letter to Trump on Friday. “We do not take this action lightly.”

Thompson previously said the committee had an “obligation” to seek an interview with the former president, who they’ve argued was central in an attempted coup to remain in office.

“As demonstrated in our hearings, we have assembled overwhelming evidence, including from dozens of your former appointees and staff, that you personally orchestrated and oversaw a multi-part effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election and to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power,” the committee chairs wrote Friday.

That effort, Thompson and Cheney wrote, included attempts to “corrupt the Department of Justice” and “maliciously disseminating false allegations of fraud” as well as “summoning tens of thousands” of supporters to Washington.

The unanimous decision to compel Trump’s testimony came at the end of the panel’s tenth — and possible last — hearing, which again focused on Trump’s behavior in the days before and after the riot.

The committee wants Trump to testify about his interactions with several individuals who’ve invoked their Fifth Amendment rights when questioned by the committee. That list includes his former political adviser Roger Stone; former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn; Trump’s former elections lawyer John Eastman; former Trump Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark; and chair of the Arizona Republican Party Kelli Ward.

“These Fifth Amendment assertions — made by persons with whom you interacted — related directly to you and your conduct,” the two panel leaders wrote in their Friday letter. “They provide specific examples where your truthful testimony under oath will be important.”

The committee on Friday made clear that the deposition, which is under oath, will be before committee investigators and members. But the subpoena does not specifically request that Trump appear for a hearing.

“In short, you were at the center of the first and only effort by any U.S. President to overturn an election and obstruct the peaceful transition of power, ultimately culminating in a bloody attack on our own capital and on the Congress itself,” Thompson and Cheney wrote Friday. “The evidence demonstrates that you knew this activity was illegal and unconstitutional, and also knew that your assertions of fraud were false. But, to be clear, Even if you know claim that you actually believed your own false election claims, that is not a defense; your subjective belief could not render this condo justified, excusable, or legal.”

Trump first responded to the committee’s vote to subpoena him in a series of posts to his conservative social media platform Truth Social.

“Why didn’t the Unselect Committee ask me to testify months ago?” Trump wrote, calling the committee a “total BUST.”

Later, in a memo addressed to Thompson, Trump continued to rail against the committee but didn’t address the subpoena.

“Despite very poor television ratings, the Unselect Committee has perpetuated a Show Trial the likes of which this Country has never seen before,” Trump said in the letter, in which he also continued to make false claims about the 2020 election.

Trump has told advisers he’d welcome a live appearance, according to sources familiar with his thinking, but has yet to say publicly whether he’ll cooperate.

Cheney said there was “no disagreement” among members on whether to subpoena Trump.

“We all felt that our obligation is to seek his testimony, that the American people deserve to hear directly from him, that it has to be under oath, that he has to be held accountable,” Cheney said this week during an appearance at a Harvard Institute of Politics forum.

Cheney said she’s “assuming Trump will fulfill his legal obligation and honor the subpoena.”

“If that doesn’t happen, then we’ll take the steps we need to take after that,” Cheney said. “But I don’t want to go too far down that path at this point.”

Experts said if Trump refuses to cooperate, the committee could move to have the full House hold him in contempt and refer the matter to the Justice Department for prosecution — something it’s done for four other individuals related to the Jan. 6 investigation.

Trump could also try to drag the matter out by fighting the subpoena in court, the experts said.

The Jan. 6 committee is expected to wrap up its investigation by the end of this year by releasing a final report on its findings and recommendations.

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(WASHINGTON) — Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon is scheduled to be sentenced today following his conviction on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress, after he defied a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

He was subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 panel for records and testimony in September of last year. He refused to comply and was found guilty of contempt in July.

Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:

Oct 21, 11:46 AM EDT
Bannon, defiant, says he will appeal conviction

Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse after receiving his four-month sentence, Bannon said he respected the judge’s decision. But he was defiant about his conviction, and his attorney confirmed he would be filing a notice of appeal.

Bannon also attacked the Jan. 6 committee and urged people to vote in the upcoming election.

Protesters nearby chanted “traitor” and “liar” as he spoke.

Oct 21, 11:30 AM EDT
Judge reiterates seriousness of Jan. 6

In sentencing Bannon to four months, Judge Nichols reiterated how serious the events of Jan. 6 were and said the congressional committee has every reason to investigate what happened that day and to prevent anything like it from happening again.

Nichols emphasized that Bannon has not produced a single document or any testimony to the Jan. 6 committee — nor did he provide a log of documents that he believed to be covered by executive privilege.

However, the judge said the factors in Bannon’s favor include that he was taking the advice of counsel, even if it was misguided. Nichols also said the committee did not attempt to sue Bannon to enforce their subpoena.

The four-month sentence is two months shorter than the sentence prosecutors had been seeking.

Oct 21, 11:16 AM EDT
Judge sentences Bannon to four months, pending appeal

Steve Bannon has been sentenced to four months in prison and has been ordered to pay a fine of $6,500.

However Judge Nichols said he agreed that Bannon should not have to serve a sentence while he appeals his case, which Bannon has indicated he will do.

Oct 21, 10:57 AM EDT
Bannon attorney argues for executive privilege

Bannon attorney David Schoen took exception to the suggestion that Bannon did not have a legitimate claim of executive privilege when he rejected the committee’s subpoena.

In particular, Schoen went after Trump lawyer Justin Clark, who told DOJ investigators in July that at no point did former President Donald Trump ever invoke executive privilege over Bannon’s testimony.

“You wouldn’t believe a thing he says,” Schoen said of Clark, who also contradicted other claims made by Bannon’s defense team in their case.

Oct 21, 9:56 AM EDT
Prosecutor says Bannon ‘not above the law’

Federal prosecutor J.P. Cooney argued that Bannon is not above the law and should be sentenced and treated like any other citizen.

“It must be made clear to the public and the grand jury … that no one is above the law,” Cooney said. “He hid behind a fabricated claim of executive privilege, to thumb his nose at Congress.”

“He had an interest in making a public spectacle of the committee’s hearings,” Cooney told the judge, saying that Bannon “has tried to make it about nothing but politics and retribution.”

Oct 21, 9:45 AM EDT
Judge ‘tends to agree’ with DOJ on guidelines

The hearing got underway with Judge Carl Nichols saying he tended to agree with the government on the sentencing guidelines.

The judge said that Bannon “has expressed no remorse for his actions” and hasn’t demonstrated that he has any intention of complying with the subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee.

Bannon attorney David Schoen argued that there should not be a 30-day mandatory minimum of jail time for the offense.

Nichols, however, rejected that argument, saying the statute is clear on the point that there is a mandatory minimum of 30 days and a mandatory maximum of 12 months.

Oct 21, 8:58 AM EDT
Courthouse arrival

Bannon arrived at the courthouse before 9 a.m. He thanked the TV news cameras for being there and called the Biden administration illegitimate.

He also thanked a woman who was chanting “traitor.”

Oct 21, 8:43 AM EDT
‘This is just Round 1’

Bannon, whose sentencing hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. EST, blasted members of the Jan. 6 committee on his way out of the courtroom after being found guilty in July.

“We may have lost a battle here today, but we’re not going to lose this war,” he said. “[The jury] came to their conclusion about what was put on in the in that courtroom. But listen, in the closing argument, the prosecutor missed one very important phrase, right? ‘I stand with Trump and the Constitution, and I will never back off that, ever.'”

Bannon’s attorney, David Schoen, said that Bannon’s defense team would appeal the case, saying, “This is just Round 1.”

Oct 21, 8:17 AM EDT
Bannon ‘willing to pay any fine’

Bannon is scheduled to be sentenced this morning in Washington, D.C. He was interviewed as part of the court’s presentencing investigation, but prosecutors said he refused to disclose any information about his finances.

They did, however, say that Bannon insisted “that he is willing and able to pay any fine imposed, including the maximum fine on each count of conviction,” according to Monday’s court filing.

“For his sustained, bad-faith contempt of Congress, the Defendant should be sentenced to six months’ imprisonment — the top end of the Sentencing Guidelines’ range — and fined $200,000 — based on his insistence on paying the maximum fine rather than cooperate with the Probation Office’s routine pre-sentencing financial investigation,” prosecutors said in Monday’s filing.

Oct 21, 6:55 AM EDT
DOJ seeks six months’ jail time for Bannon

The Department of Justice is seeking six months in prison and a fine of $200,000 when Steve Bannon is sentenced this morning, according to a court filing Monday.

The adviser to former President Donald Trump was convicted in July on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress, after he refused to appear before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.

“From the time he was initially subpoenaed, the Defendant has shown that his true reasons for total noncompliance have nothing to do with his purported respect for the Constitution, the rule of law, or executive privilege, and everything to do with his personal disdain for the members of Congress sitting on the Committee and their effort to investigate the attack on our country’s peaceful transfer of power,” prosecutors said in Monday’s filing. “[Bannon’s] abject refusal to heed the Committee’s subpoena, under the circumstances with which this country is confronted, could not be more serious.”

Bannon faces a maximum sentence of one year per count, for a total of two years behind bars.

In his own sentencing memorandum, Bannon asked that he be sentenced to a period of probation and is seeking a stay of any sentence pending appeal of his conviction.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Everytown for Gun Safety, the prominent gun violence prevention organization, on Friday announced its first-ever investments in local secretary of state races amid what they described as worries the GOP nominees would not certify presidential election results in 2024 — if elected this year.

The $1 million investment is funding ads and mailers targeting Mark Finchem and Kristina Karamo, the Republican secretary of state nominees in Arizona and Michigan, respectively, and will boost the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, Everytown said.

The media campaign will be featured on digital platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Roku and YouTube, as well as via direct mail, according to the advocacy group.

Both Finchem and Karamo have spread baseless fraud claims about the 2020 presidential election and have declined to firmly commit to certifying the 2024 election results in their states, if they are in office.

“Electing gun sense champions requires fair elections — and that requires electing Secretaries of State who will stand up to armed extremists threatening our democracy and fight for free and fair elections,” John Feinblatt, president of Everytown, said in a statement.

“Everytown is going to make sure voters know that far-right candidates like Mark Finchem and Kristina Karamo, who deny election results and cozy up to extremist groups, are putting both our democracy and our lives at risk,” Feinblatt said.

The ad against Finchem, who was at the U.S. Capitol during last year’s insurrection (but said he didn’t go inside), highlights his association with the Oath Keepers militia and denial of the veracity of the 2020 election results. And a mailer focusing on Karamo casts her as “too dangerous for Michigan” while noting her election denialism and opposition to abortion access.

Neither Finchem’s nor Karamo’s campaigns responded to requests for comment from ABC News.

Pressed on his own election denialism in the past, Finchem has said that as secretary of state, he would theoretically certify a reelection win for President Joe Biden “if the law is followed, and legitimate votes have been counted” and “if there’s no fraud.” But he told Time magazine, that “quite frankly, is a fantasy.”

Everytown is one of the country’s major supporters of increased gun laws. But Charlie Kelly, the group’s senior political adviser, said that electing lawmakers who will advocate for those changes is only possible if election results are certified — and if voters are free from violence while casting ballots.

“That’s why we’re engaging the secretary of state races,” Kelly told ABC News in an interview.

Kelly said Everytown is hoping that their investment can reach tens of thousands of voters, indicating the new emphasis on secretary of state and other down-ballot races. Both Finchem and Karamo are candidates in swing-states.

Former President Donald Trump’s refusal to accept his own defeat in the 2020, by some seven million votes, has spurred a slew of Republicans running for office this year to cast doubt on the last election and this year’s races, with some candidates preemptively saying that if they win, it would be in spite of fraud — not because of the absence of it.

Kelly, the Everytown adviser, said that Arizona and Michigan were chosen for the advertising blitz after a collaboration with other groups to determine where the investment would go the furthest.

“These are ones that we determined we have an opportunity in. And again, as you’re looking at the battlefield, there are certainly a number of secretaries of state races across the board and across the country where there are extremist candidates running,” Kelly said, “but working again with partners to fill gaps and sort of where the needs are, these two rose to that level.”

Still, Kelly indicated that Everytown will not shy away from investing in secretary of state races in the future, suggesting that the contests will be focuses of Democrats and their allies beyond the midterms.

“If there are extremists and dangerous candidates like Finchem and Karamo running in future cycles, yes, we will be there in a significant way,” Kelly said. “These folks are putting their own sort of political priorities before our constitutional right to vote and our safety and should individuals like this decide to run in future elections, of course we’ll be there. We need to draw that contrast.”

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(PHOENIX) — As Yesenia Cruz-Bejarano emerged from the Moose Lodge, an early voting location in South Phoenix, tears streamed down her face even as she smiled brightly with joy.

“I’ve been here for so long, you know, more than half of my life. So, I feel so proud,” said Cruz-Bejarano, who had just cast her first ballot as a newly-naturalized U.S. citizen. “I’m happy that I can make a difference, you know, with my vote.”

The married mother of three from Mexico, who works full-time at a local children’s shelter, is among a highly diverse wave of new American voters that could play a critical role in one of the hottest political battlegrounds of the midterm elections.

More than 64,000 immigrants gained citizenship in Arizona since 2016, according to a report last month by a coalition of immigrant, labor and voting rights groups in partnership with researchers at the University of California, San Diego.

“Arizona is at the top of the list of states for newly-naturalized voters,” said Nicole Melaku, executive director of the National Partnership for New Americans, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group that sponsored the report. “We know that they will play an outsized role in determining the fate of the U.S. Senate and, of course, their state legislative body.”

Melaku points out the 2020 presidential election in Arizona was decided by just over 10,000 votes. The voting bloc of newly-naturalized citizens is more than six times that margin.

“In order to have a better future, we need to show up and vote and elect those that represent our values,” said Eduardo Sainz, a father of three who recently became a naturalized citizen after waiting 16 years in line. “We have to take out racist politicians out of office.”

Arizona’s population of naturalized American voters is a racially and ethnically diverse mix of immigrants from all over the world. More than half immigrated from Latin America and a third came from Asia, according to the report. Both groups of new citizens have a historically high rate of voter participation.

“They’re important because they’ve come to this country to be part of the American dream. They’ve come here to be part of the fabric of our country,” said Petra Falcon, executive director of Promise Arizona, a nonpartisan immigrant advocacy group.

The issues most important to them mirror those of the U.S. electorate more broadly, Falcon said, sharing concerns about the economy, health care, education, immigration and abortion rights.

“No voting bloc is a monolith, but they are most certainly not all Democrats,” said Melaku, “and they’re certainly people who need to be engaged, courted to really fully understand the issues at stake.”

Tuach Ruon, a father of five, and Tema Patrick, father of six, became U.S. citizens earlier this year as refugees from north and central Africa. Both now have union jobs working the overnight shift at a distribution warehouse — and both said health care is a top issue.

“In my native Congo, I never vote,” said Patrick, 45, who explained in broken English that he had never been able to cast a ballot. “This is my first time. I’m very happy.”

“It is important for us to vote to show that we are American,” added Ruon, “and to show that the people who we are voting for are doing the job that we are expecting them to do.”

Researchers say the newest Arizona voters are disproportionately young and female: More than half are under the age of 45 and nearly 6-in-10 are women.

“Self autonomy is a very big thing, specifically to women, non-binary individuals, anyone,” said Arisbeth Valenzuela, who became a U.S. citizen in 2019 and is now a grassroots organizer with Mi Familia Vota, a civic engagement group.

“There’s been a lot of women that have the same concerns that I do, and a lot of them are now getting much more invested in politics,” she said.

Overall, Arizona is home to nearly half a million naturalized citizens that comprise more than 6% of the state’s total population. Nearly one-fifth of those immigrants joined the voter rolls since 2016.

“We have a diversity of new people that are changing the electorate of Arizona,” said Arizona State University political scientist Irasema Coronado.

“The fact that we have two Democratic senators is a change. The fact that we have progressive members of the city council is a change. And so, you have a variety of people with new experiences and more progressive politics,” she said.

Their political power may depend in part on the ability to navigate new state voting restrictions, advocates said.

“That really could have a negative impact for voter behaviors, but we’re actually feeling quite hopeful that this year,” said Melaku, whose group is spearheading outreach to newly-minted American citizens.

“This is a powerful, rising voting bloc of people who are most likely bilingual, multicultural, come from, you know, diverse families and, of course, who care about a lot of issues,” she said.

Cruz-Bejarano said the responsibility and excitement of being a new voter instills a natural sense of engagement.

“There’s so many people becoming American citizens,” she said. “I have a lot of friends, you know, they are doing it right now. It’s — I think it’s really going to make the difference.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon is scheduled to be sentenced today following his conviction on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress, after he defied a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

He was subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 panel for records and testimony in September of last year. He refused to comply and was found guilty of contempt in July.

Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:

Oct 21, 8:58 AM EDT
Courthouse arrival

Bannon arrived at the courthouse before 9 a.m. He thanked the TV news cameras for being there and called the Biden administration illegitimate.

He also thanked a woman who was chanting “traitor.”

Oct 21, 8:43 AM EDT
‘This is just Round 1’

Bannon, whose sentencing hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. EST, blasted members of the Jan. 6 committee on his way out of the courtroom after being found guilty in July.

“We may have lost a battle here today, but we’re not going to lose this war,” he said. “[The jury] came to their conclusion about what was put on in the in that courtroom. But listen, in the closing argument, the prosecutor missed one very important phrase, right? ‘I stand with Trump and the Constitution, and I will never back off that, ever.'”

Bannon’s attorney, David Schoen, said that Bannon’s defense team would appeal the case, saying, “This is just Round 1.”

Oct 21, 8:17 AM EDT
Bannon ‘willing to pay any fine’

Bannon is scheduled to be sentenced this morning in Washington, D.C. He was interviewed as part of the court’s presentencing investigation, but prosecutors said he refused to disclose any information about his finances.

They did, however, say that Bannon insisted “that he is willing and able to pay any fine imposed, including the maximum fine on each count of conviction,” according to Monday’s court filing.

“For his sustained, bad-faith contempt of Congress, the Defendant should be sentenced to six months’ imprisonment — the top end of the Sentencing Guidelines’ range — and fined $200,000 — based on his insistence on paying the maximum fine rather than cooperate with the Probation Office’s routine pre-sentencing financial investigation,” prosecutors said in Monday’s filing.

Oct 21, 6:55 AM EDT
DOJ seeks six months’ jail time for Bannon

The Department of Justice is seeking six months in prison and a fine of $200,000 when Steve Bannon is sentenced this morning, according to a court filing Monday.

The adviser to former President Donald Trump was convicted in July on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress, after he refused to appear before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.

“From the time he was initially subpoenaed, the Defendant has shown that his true reasons for total noncompliance have nothing to do with his purported respect for the Constitution, the rule of law, or executive privilege, and everything to do with his personal disdain for the members of Congress sitting on the Committee and their effort to investigate the attack on our country’s peaceful transfer of power,” prosecutors said in Monday’s filing. “[Bannon’s] abject refusal to heed the Committee’s subpoena, under the circumstances with which this country is confronted, could not be more serious.”

Bannon faces a maximum sentence of one year per count, for a total of two years behind bars.

In his own sentencing memorandum, Bannon asked that he be sentenced to a period of probation and is seeking a stay of any sentence pending appeal of his conviction.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(FULTON COUNTY, Ga.) — A federal appeals court on Thursday denied Sen. Lindsey Graham’s request to block a subpoena from the Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The ruling means Graham must testify before the panel.

Graham has been fighting the subpoena since he was served over the summer.

In his appeal to the 11th Circuit Court, Graham had argued that his actions surrounding the 2020 election were protected by the Constitution’s Speech and Debate Clause, which grants members of Congress legal protection while performing their duties.

However in its ruling Thursday, the court found that the specific activity that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis seeks to question Graham about would not violate that clause.

That includes questions regarding “communications and coordination with the Trump campaign regarding its post-election efforts in Georgia, public statements regarding the 2020 election, and efforts to ‘cajole’ or ‘exhort’ Georgia election officials,” the ruling said

“Sen. Graham has failed to demonstrate that this approach will violate his rights under the Speech and Debate Clause,” the ruling said.

A lower court had already slightly limited the scope of the questions prosecutors can ask Graham during his appearance.

A representative for Graham did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

Willis has been investigating whether former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies broke the law when they pressured Georgia officials to try to alter the results of the election in Trump’s favor. The probe was sparked in part by a phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which he pleaded with him to “find 11,780 votes,” the exact number Trump needed to win Georgia.

Trump, who has denounced the probe, has repeatedly defended his phone call to Raffensperger, calling it “perfect.”

The special grand jury does not have the ability to return an indictment, and can only make recommendations concerning criminal prosecution.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(PITTSBURGH, Penn.) — With the clock ticking toward next month’s midterm elections, President Joe Biden on Thursday traveled to battleground Pennsylvania to tout his infrastructure law and stump for Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman.

Biden’s first stop was in Pittsburgh to visit Fern Hollow Bridge — which collapsed earlier this year when Biden was visiting the state. Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, joined him there.

“You all told me about the emergency workers and pull the survivors to safety,” Biden said at the bridge site. “There were heroes that day, and a complete catastrophe was avoided. But it never should have come to this.”

Biden gave remarks on the progress in the rebuilding of the bridge, which he said will now be done in a single year thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — one of the major legislative victories his administration’s been highlighting ahead of the Nov. 8 midterms.

Later Thursday, Biden is going to Philadelphia for a fundraiser in support of Fetterman, who’s running against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz in one of the most competitive Senate races in the country.

Stepping off Air Force One in Pittsburgh on Thursday, Biden shook hands with Fetterman on the tarmac, telling him: “You’re gonna win.”

The event is a somewhat rare appearance for Biden with a Democratic candidate this cycle. Some other hopefuls in the party have kept their distance from the president as he faces low approval ratings, and a handful have gone so far as to say Biden shouldn’t run for office again in 2024.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll released last month found Biden’s approval rating underwater: 39% of Americans approved of his job performance while 53% disapproved.

Fetterman, when asked earlier this month if Biden should run again, said that should be a “decision made by Joe Biden.”

“It’s not a matter of anyone’s choice other than his, and I respect any choice he decides,” Fetterman said on the podcast “On with Kara Swisher.” Fetterman added that he believes Biden would beat Donald Trump in a rematch, if both were to seek office again.

ABC News White House Correspondent MaryAlice Parks questioned Biden about his appearances on the campaign trail as he departed the White House on Thursday morning.

“Mr. President, John Fetterman is gonna appear with you today in Pennsylvania … but there haven’t been that many candidates campaigning with you,” Parks said.

“That’s not true. There have been 15, count, kid, count.” Biden interrupted.

“OK, and are there gonna be even more?” Parks pressed further.

“Yeah,” Biden replied.

The Pennsylvania Senate race between Fetterman and Oz is one that could determine which party controls the chamber next year, and Democrats see the contest as one of their best chances to pick up a seat and preserve or expand their bare majority. (Incumbent Republican Pat Toomey is retiring.)

The latest FiveThirtyEight forecast shows Democrats slightly favored to keep control of the Senate, while Republicans are favored to win back control of the House.

FiveThirtyEight’s polling average for the Pennsylvania Senate race shows Fetterman leading by 5%, though his lead has tightened over the past several weeks.

ABC News’ Mary Bruce and Molly Nagle contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Longtime Trump confidant charged with acting as agent of foreign government

Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin testified Thursday in the trial of former Trump inaugural chair Tom Barrack, who is accused of illegally lobbying the Trump administration on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.

Mnuchin, called as a defense witness by Barrack, testified that in 2017 Barrack had expressed support for Qatar in the 2017 blockade of the tiny nation — a position that would have put him at odds with the UAE.

“He came in with the idea of telling me that he thought the president had made a mistake supporting the blockade … his position was clearly in support of Qatar,” Mnuchin said of a meeting he had with Barrack shortly after then-President Trump publicly announced his support for the blockade of Qatar by the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

“He asked me to pass those views on to the president,” Mnuchin said.

Prosecutors have accused Barrack, a Los Angeles-based businessman and longtime Trump associate, of acting as a foreign agent for the UAE from 2016 to 2018 yet failing to register with the Department of Justice, which they say constitutes a crime. Barrack has pleaded not guilty.

Mnuchin, whose testimony on Thursday lasted under 30 minutes, served as United States treasury secretary from 2017 to 2021. He re-entered the private sector upon leaving government.

On cross examination, Mnuchin sought to avoid specific questions about his own investment firm’s financial ties to the UAE.

“Your honor, we’re subject to various confidentiality agreements and nondisclosure agreements with our investors — am I required to answer that question?” Mnuchin asked the judge after being questioned by prosecutors about whether his firm has specifically taken investments from UAE sovereign wealth funds.

The judge said he should answer generally.

“Your fund includes investments from sovereign wealth funds from the UAE?” the prosecutor asked again.

“Yes,” Mnuchin replied.

Mnuchin, who served on the National Security Council as part of his role leading the Treasury Department, also testified that he never asked Barrack to conduct any work for him on behalf of the government.

“You never directed Mr. Barrack to do anything on your behalf as treasury secretary, is that true?” the prosecutor asked.

“Of course not,” Mnuchin replied.

But Mnuchin repeatedly declined to answer questions about internal administration conversations regarding the Qatar blockade, citing executive privilege.

On redirect, defense attorney Michael Schachter seized on that line of questioning to emphasize that Barrack was not subject to the same restrictions — because unlike Mnuchin, he was not a member of the United States government.

“Those confidentiality restrictions that applied to you — are you aware of whether there were any confidentiality restrictions that apply to Mr. Barrack that prevent him from speaking to whoever he wanted to?” Schachter asked Mnuchin.

“Not that I’m aware of, no,” Mnuchin replied.

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