Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of the former president President Trumpfiled an emergency petition Tuesday seeking to keep him out of jail as he appeals his conviction for defying a January 6 House committee subpoena — potentially to the US Supreme Court.
Petition filed with US Court of Appeals District of Columbia The ruling is requested to be handed down by June 18 — before Bannon’s surrender date of July 1 — to allow enough time to seek further relief from the Supreme Court if needed. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington agreed to the Justice Department’s request that Bannon report to prison on July 1 after a federal appeals court panel in May upheld his conviction for contempt of Congress.
“The political realities here cannot be denied either. Mr. Bannon is a high-profile political commentator and campaign strategist. He has been prosecuted by an administration whose policies are a frequent target of Mr. Bannon’s public statements,” the motion states. “The government seeks to imprison Mr. Bannon for a period of four months prior to the November election, when millions of Americans look to him for information on critical campaign issues. This would also effectively prevent Mr. Bannon from serving as a meaningful adviser to the ongoing national campaign.”
“This is a landmark case. The prosecution pursued a new and aggressive theory of liability, and the case has attracted international attention,” wrote Bannon’s attorney, R. Trent McCotter. “If the panel’s decision stands, it will have far-reaching consequences, including separation of powers concerns. Prior to Mr. Bannon’s prosecution, it had been 50 years since the government persuaded a jury to convict someone for failing to adequately respond to a congressional subpoena — and there has certainly been no shortage of controversies over congressional subpoenas during that time.”
Judge orders Steve Bannon to report to prison
Former President Trump’s former adviser Steve Bannon (center) and lawyer Matthew Evan Corcoran (left) depart the courthouse in Washington, DC on June 6, 2024 (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Bannon was convicted nearly two years ago of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to testify with the House committee on January 6 and another for refusing to provide documents related to his involvement in Trump’s efforts to alter the results of the 2020 presidential election to show President Biden’s victory.
Nichols, nominated to the bench by Trump in 2018, had initially allowed Bannon to remain free while he fought his conviction because the judge believed the case raised too many legal questions. However, during a hearing in federal court in Washington, Nichols said the calculus changed after a three-judge District of Columbia appeals court panel said not all of Bannon’s challenges had merit.
The proposal comes Tuesday after Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in a hush-money fund-raising trial in New York City and is scheduled for his sentencing hearing just four days before next month’s Republican National Convention, where the Republican Party will likely declare him its official 2024 presidential nominee.
Steve Bannon, a former adviser to former President Trump, appears in Manhattan Supreme Court to set the date for his trial on May 25, 2023, in New York City. (Curtis Means-Pool/Getty Images)
On Tuesday, his lawyers wrote that Bannon “intends to vigorously pursue his remaining appeals in this case and has hired experienced Supreme Court counsel,” urging the court to allow him to remain free because “there is no dispute that Mr. Bannon is ‘not likely to flee or pose a threat to the safety of any other person or the community if released’ — in fact, he has been on release for years without incident, and his ‘crime’ was nonviolent.”
“Mr. Bannon faced a novel scenario described by the Court: Congress was pursuing documents and testimony from a former executive branch official, yet the former President’s counsel demanded that Mr. Bannon invoke the defense of executive privilege in responding to the subpoena,” the motion states. “Mr. Bannon followed his counsel’s advice and requested that the Committee resolve the privilege issues with that privilege holder, or resolve the matter in civil litigation.”
Bannon’s lawyers argued during the trial that the former adviser had not ignored the subpoena but rather had engaged in good faith negotiations with the congressional committee even when he was charged.
The defense has said Bannon was acting on the advice of his lawyer at the time, who told him the subpoena was illegal because the committee would not allow Trump’s lawyer into the room and that Bannon could not decide what documents or testimony he could provide, as Trump had insisted Bannon did not know what evidence he should provide. Executive Privilege,
Steve Bannon, former adviser to former President Trump, leaves after appearing at the New York State Supreme Court on May 25, 2023 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Defense attorney David Schoen told the judge it would be unfair to send Bannon to prison now because he will serve his full sentence before his appeals are exhausted. Schoen said the case raises “serious constitutional issues” that must be examined. Supreme Court,
“In this country, we don’t send anybody to jail if they think they’ve acted lawfully,” he told reporters.
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Another Trump ally, trade adviser Peter Navarro, was also found guilty of contempt of Congress. He went to prison in March to serve a four-month sentence.
Bannon also faces criminal charges in New York state court alleging he defrauded donors who gave money to build a wall on the US southern border. Bannon has pleaded not guilty to money laundering, conspiracy, fraud and other charges, and that trial has been postponed until at least the end of September.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
