Topline
A judge ruled Thursday that Steve Bannon, who was ordered to serve time in prison for contempt of Congress after he refused to comply with a subpoena from the House Jan. 6 Committee, will have to report to jail to serve his sentence while appealing the case.
Former White House aide Steve Bannon will have to report to prison by July 1, a judge ruled ... [+]
Key Facts
Bannon, an ex-White House aide of former President Donald Trump, must report to prison by July 1, multiple outlets reported Thursday.
Bannon was sentenced in October 2022 to serve four months in prison and pay a $6,500 fine for contempt of Congress, but his jail term was postponed at the time while he appealed.
Bannon’s lawyers argued he should be allowed to continue to postpone his sentence because—even though an appeals court rejected his appeal—he is still able to appeal to the D.C. Circuit court or the U.S. Supreme Court, Reuters reported.
However, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols said he no longer believes the basis for a stay of Bannon’s sentence exists, adding, “I no longer consider that his appeal raises substantial questions of law of a kind likely to reverse his conviction,” The Washington Post reported.
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Crucial Quote
“There’s nothing that can shut me up, there’s not a prison built or a jail built that will shut me up,” Bannon said outside of the courthouse after the decision, adding his legal team will take this to the Supreme Court if it has to. “All victory to MAGA, we’re going to win this, we’re going to win at the Supreme Court and more importantly we’re going to win on November 5.”
Key Background
Bannon, a right-wing podcaster, was an executive on Trump’s 2016 campaign and served as chief strategist in the Trump administration—a position created specifically for him. He backed Trump’s claims of election interference and fraud after the 2020 election, and was pardoned on the last day of Trump’s presidency for fraud charges he faced related to his role in a private fundraising campaign to raise money to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. The House Jan. 6 Committee accused Bannon of having a “multi-faceted role” ahead of the riot by backing Trump’s voter fraud claims and meeting with other Trump allies before the riot began. Bannon was held in contempt by Congress after he said he could not turn over records to the Jan. 6 committee related to the riot because Trump had invoked “executive privilege,” which gives the president the right to keep some internal communications private. Lawmakers, however, said this does not apply to Bannon because he was a private citizen, not a member of Trump’s staff, at the time of the Jan. 6 riot.
