The Supreme Court denied Friday former Trump advisor Steve Bannon’s request to stay out of jail pending his appeal.
Bannon will now be required to report to prison by July 1, as a federal judge ordered him to do earlier this month. He will serve a four-month sentence for his contempt of Congress conviction, which stems from his decision to ignore a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee.
“The application for release pending appeal presented to The Chief Justice and by him referred to the Court is denied,” the Court’s order states.
A federal appeals court upheld his 2022 conviction in May. Bannon asked the Supreme Court last week to put his prison sentence on hold while he seeks further appeal.
“There is also no denying the fact that the government seeks to imprison Mr. Bannon for the four-month period immediately preceding the November presidential election,” his attorneys argued. “There is no reason for that outcome in a case that presents substantial legal issues.”
The Supreme Court denied Steve Bannon’s effort to stay out of jail pending his appeal of his contempt of Congress conviction. He was ordered to report to prison by July 1. pic.twitter.com/Ni5iwgzzVg
— Katelynn Richardson (@katesrichardson) June 28, 2024
His attorneys also noted the last time a jury convicted anyone on contempt of Congress charges was “fifty years ago,” urging the Court to “be mindful of the government’s own conduct when it comes to congressional subpoenas.”
“Congress recently issued subpoenas to DOJ regarding Hunter Biden, yet DOJ instructed its Tax Division lawyers to refuse to comply,” they wrote. “‘Jail for thee, not for me’ is hardly an acceptable position for the government.”
Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued Wednesday that Bannon failed to “make the demanding showing necessary to override the normal requirement that a convicted defendant begin serving his sentence.”
“[Bannon], who worked for former President Donald J. Trump for seven months in 2017, had left the White House years before the dates of the requested information,” she wrote. “Nevertheless, he asserted that some of the requested information may be protected from disclosure by the executive privilege for presidential communications. Former President Trump, however, never invoked any privilege before the committee, and President Biden affirmatively waived any applicable privilege.”
Bannon is expected to serve his sentence at a prison in Danbury, Connecticut that has housed violent offenders, rather than a minimum-security prison camp.
Former Trump aide Peter Navarro is also serving a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress for his refusal to comply with a Jan. 6 committee subpoena.
