Steve Bannon, a prominent figure on the American right who served as a senior strategist for former President Donald Trump, has been sentenced by a judge to four months in prison for refusing to cooperate with lawmakers investigating last year’s US Capitol attack by a pro-Trump mob.

His lawyers have said they will appeal his conviction.

US District Judge Carl Nichols during a sentencing hearing also ordered the former adviser to pay a fine of $US6,500 ($10,298).

Mr Bannon was convicted by a jury in July on two counts of contempt of Congress for failing to provide documents or testimony.

Each of the two counts was punishable by a minimum of one month and a maximum of one year in prison and a fine of up to $US100,000 ($158,425).

Outside court, Bannon refuted that he was above the law, calling the accusation a “total lie”.

Prosecutors on Monday had asked the judge to hand down a six month sentence, while Mr Bannon’s attorneys had sought probation.

Prosecutor JP Cooney said at Friday’s hearing that Steve Bannon chose to “thumb his nose at Congress.”

He “is not above the law, and that’s what makes this case important,” Mr Cooney said.

A protester follows Steve Bannon as he leaves the federal courthouse. Photo : AAP

A jury of eight men and four women convicted him for refusing to testify or provide documents subpoenaed by the House of Representatives select committee probing the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack and efforts by Trump’s allies to overturn his 2020 election loss.

Steve Bannon, 68, was a key adviser to the Republican Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, then served as his chief White House strategist during 2017 before a falling out between them that was later patched up.

Mr Bannon helped articulate the “America First” right-wing populism and stout opposition to immigration that helped define Trump’s presidency.

He has played an instrumental role in right-wing media and has promoted right-wing causes and candidates in the United States and abroad.

A pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol and attacked police with batons, sledgehammers, flag poles, Taser devices, chemical irritants, metal pipes, rocks, metal guard rails and other weapons in a failed effort to block congressional certification of his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Steve Bannon declined to address the judge prior to sentencing on Friday.

His attorney David Schoen, in a lengthy diatribe, said Bannon relied on the advice of his lawyers not to comply with a congressional subpoena after Trump invoked executive privilege, a legal doctrine that shields some White House communications from disclosure.

“A more egregious contempt of Congress would have been to say ‘Screw you Congress, take your subpoena and shove it!'” Mr Schoen said.

According to the January 6 committee, Mr Bannon spoke with Trump at least twice on the day before the attack, attended a planning meeting at a Washington hotel and said on his right-wing podcast that “all hell is going to break loose tomorrow.”

In his trial, prosecutors called only two witnesses while Mr Bannon’s defense team called none.

Steve Bannon opted not to testify.

House select committee officially subpoenas Trump

former United States President Donald J. Trump making a statement at the US House Select Committee October 2022

Former US president Donald Trump has been subpoenaed to give evidence about his part in the January 2021 attack on the Capitol.

The House committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol has issued a subpoena Donald Trump, exercising its power against the former president who lawmakers say “personally orchestrated” a multi-part effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The nine-member panel on Friday issued a letter to Trump’s lawyers, demanding his testimony under oath by November 14 and outlining a request for a series of corresponding documents, including personal communications between the former president and members of Congress as well as extremist groups.

“We recognise that a subpoena to a former President is a significant and historic action,” Chairman Bennie Thompson and Vice Chair Liz Cheney wrote in the letter to Trump.

“We do not take this action lightly.”

It is unclear how Trump and his legal team will respond to the subpoena. He could comply or negotiate with the committee, announce he will defy the subpoena or ignore it altogether. He could also go to court and try to stop it.

The subpoena is the latest and most striking escalation in the House committee’s 15-month investigation of the deadly January 6, 2021 insurrection, bringing members of the panel into direct conflict with the man they have investigated from afar through the testimony of aides, allies and associates.

The committee writes in its letter that it has assembled “overwhelming evidence” that Trump “personally orchestrated” an effort to overturn his own defeat in the 2020 election, including by spreading false allegations of widespread voter fraud, “attempting to corrupt” the Justice Department and by pressuring state officials, members of Congress and his own vice president to try to change the results.

But lawmakers say key details about what Trump was doing and saying during the siege remain unknown. According to the committee, the only person who can fill the gaps is Trump himself.

The panel — comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans — approved the subpoena for Trump in a surprise vote last week. Every member voted in support.

The day after, Trump posted a lengthy memo on Truth Social, his social media website, repeating his false claims of widespread election fraud and expressing his “anger, disappointment and complaint” that the committee wasn’t investigating his claims.

He made no mention of the subpoena.

Iran, China secrets in Trump’s seized docs

Meanwhle classified documents containing US secrets about Iran and China were among the papers seized from former US president Donald Trump’s home, it has been reported.

Highly sensitive intelligence on Iran and China was in some of the documents recovered by the FBI during an August search of former US President Donald Trump’s home in Florida, The Washington Post has reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

They included secret documents that described intelligence work regarding China and at least one of them described Iran’s missile program, Friday’s report said, adding that the documents were considered to be among the most sensitive in the materials seized by the FBI.

The release of information in these documents would pose multiple risks, including endangering people helping US intelligence efforts and compromising collection efforts, the newspaper cited experts as saying.

The Justice Department is investigating whether Trump broke the law by taking government records, including about 100 classified documents, to his Florida estate after leaving office in January 2021.

The department is also looking into whether Trump or his team obstructed justice when the FBI sent agents to search his home, and has warned that more classified documents may still be missing.