WASHINGTON — The request of Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of Donald Trump, to stay out of prison while he fights his conviction for defying a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the U.S. Capitol attack was rejected by a federal appeals court panel on Thursday.
Bannon has been ordered to report to prison by July 1 to begin serving his four-month sentence for contempt of Congress.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, nominated to the bench by Trump, granted prosecutors’ request earlier this month to send Bannon to prison after a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld his conviction.
Bannon’s lawyers requested the appeals court to allow him to remain free while he continues to contest the conviction all the way up to the Supreme Court, if necessary. However, in a 2-1 vote, the D.C. Circuit panel stated that Bannon’s case “does not warrant a departure from the general rule” that defendants begin serving their sentence after conviction.
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Judges Cornelia Pillard, nominated by former President Barack Obama, and Bradley Garcia, a nominee of President Joe Biden, voted to send Bannon to prison. Judge Justin Walker, nominated by Trump, dissented, stating that he should not have to serve time before the Supreme Court decides on his case.
Bannon is expected to appeal to the Supreme Court to delay his prison sentence. His attorneys did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Thursday.
He was convicted nearly two years ago of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to sit for a deposition with the Jan. 6 House Committee and the other for refusing to provide documents related to his involvement in efforts by Trump to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.
Bannon’s lawyer argued at trial that he was still in good-faith negotiations with the committee when he was charged and had been relying on the advice of his attorney, who believed he couldn’t testify or produce documents because of executive privilege invoked by Trump.
Bannon’s lawyers say the case raises serious legal questions that will likely need to be resolved by the Supreme Court but by the time the case reaches there, he would have finished his prison sentence.
In court documents, Bannon’s lawyers also argued for allowing him to stay free in the lead-up to the 2024 election due to his role as a top adviser to Trump’s campaign.
Prosecutors argued that Bannon’s “role in political discourse” is irrelevant and that equal justice under the law requires his continued detention.
A second Trump aide, trade adviser Peter Navarro, is already serving his prison sentence for contempt of Congress. Navarro had also cited executive privilege, but the judge did not allow that argument at trial.
The House Jan. 6 committee’s final report concluded that Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the election results and failed to act to stop the attack on the Capitol.
