Steve Bannon seeks to stay out of prison while he appeals contempt of Congress conviction

Washington – Steve Bannon, a conservative commentator and ally of former President Donald Trump, asked a federal appeals court to allow him to remain out of prison while he continues to contest his conviction on two counts of contempt for Congress.

Bannon was ordered last week to report to prison until July 1 to begin serving a four-month sentence. But in a request for emergency help To the US appeals court in Washington, the former White House chief strategist argued that he should be allowed to remain free while he files new appeals, including to the Supreme Court.

Bannon’s 2022 conviction resulted from his refusal to comply with a subpoena from the then House select committee which investigated the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. House investigators have sought documents and testimony from Bannon on numerous issues, including his communications with Trump regarding efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Bannon argued at the time that he could not respond to the subpoena because of possible executive privilege claims raised by Trump and said a lawyer for the former president indicated that Trump invoked executive privilege. Bannon was dismissed from his post as chief White House strategist in 2017 and was a private citizen at the time of efforts to subvert the transfer of presidential power following the 2020 election.

Before his trial began, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who presided over the proceedings, prohibited Bannon from presenting evidence or arguing that he relied on his former lawyer’s advice when he refused to comply with the subpoena. A jury later found Bannon guilty on both counts of contempt of Congress and Nichols. sentenced him to four months in prison. The judge allowed Bannon to remain free whilst he lodged an appeal against his conviction.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld Bannon’s conviction last month, concluding, in part, that the defense counsel Bannon sought to raise was “no defense at all.”

The justices said Bannon did not dispute that he deliberately refused to comply with the House select committee’s subpoena, “insofar as he knew what the subpoena required and intentionally failed to respond; in other words, his failure to respond was not accidental “.

The D.C. Circuit panel also rejected Bannon’s claims that the subpoena was invalid.

In light of the panel’s decision, Nichols revoked Bannon’s bond and ordered him to surrender by July 1 to begin serving his prison sentence. The conservative commentator plans to ask all D.C. Circuit judges to reevaluate his case and may seek further relief from the Supreme Court.

In their request to remain free while the appeal process continues, Bannon’s lawyers wrote that there is “good reason to believe” the Supreme Court would be interested in reviewing his conviction.

“Further, the issue is important because, under this court’s jurisprudence, future disagreements over compliance with the subpoena will not be handled by negotiation – but by finger-pointing, especially when the White House changes political parties,” they told the Circuit of DC in his emergency motion for release. .

Bannon’s legal team said that if their client is denied release, he will serve his prison sentence before the Supreme Court has the opportunity to consider a request to accept his appeal. The court’s term will end in late June or early July, and the next term will begin on October 7.

“There is also no denying the political realities here,” Bannon’s lawyers wrote, noting that he is a political commentator and campaign strategist who has been sued by the Biden administration. “The government intends to arrest Mr. Bannon during the four-month period leading up to the November elections, when millions of Americans turn to him for information on important campaign issues. This would also effectively prevent Mr. Bannon from serving as a significant advisor in the ongoing national campaign.”

Bannon’s lawyers asked the D.C. Circuit to issue a ruling on his request to remain out of prison until June 18, which would give them time to seek additional emergency relief from the Supreme Court if necessary.

Bannon is the second former Trump White House official who has been found guilty by a jury of contempt of Congress after defying a House select committee subpoena. Peter Navarro, who served as Trump’s top trade adviser, is serving a four-month prison sentence in a correctional center in Miami after being convicted of two counts of criminal contempt last year.

Navarro is also appealing his conviction and has asked the Supreme Court to allow him to remain free during further proceedings. But his proposal was rejected first by Chief Justice John Roberts and then by the full court.