Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon gestures as he speaks to members of the media as he leaves the federal courthouse after a judge ordered him to surrender by July 1 to begin his four-month trial on June 6, 2024 in Washington to serve prison sentence.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a last-ditch attempt by former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon to avoid a prison report next week while he appeals his conviction for defying a subpoena from a House committee who was investigating the riots at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Bannon, 70, will begin a four-month prison sentence on Monday for contempt of Congress.
The Supreme Court said Friday in its unsigned, one-sentence order that Bannon’s “motion for release is pending the filing of the appeal with the Chief Justice.” [John Roberts] and referred by him to the court is rejected.
The court in March rejected a similar request from Peter Navarro, another former adviser to former President Donald Trump, who was also sentenced to four months in prison for defying a Jan. 6 subpoena from the House investigative panel. Navarro will soon begin serving his sentence.
A lawyer for Bannon did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the Supreme Court’s order.
Bannon was convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress in July 2022 following a trial in US District Court in Washington, DC. His prison sentence was suspended in October 2022, pending an appeal of his conviction.
Last month, a three-judge federal appeals court panel upheld his conviction, rejecting the argument that Bannon did not violate the law because his lawyer advised him not to comply with the panel’s Jan. 6 subpoena because his testimony might be blocked could be through a claim to managerial privileges.
Bannon is expected to ask the full appeals court in Washington, DC, to rehear the appeal of his conviction. But the district judge in his case, Carl Nichols, ordered him to report to prison on June 6 to begin his sentence.
Last week, Bannon asked the Supreme Court to stay his surrender date pending his appeal. Friday’s Supreme Court order rejected that offer, making it all but certain that Bannon will serve his sentence before his appeal options are exhausted.
The bipartisan House panel was formed to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection, when a violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol and forced Congress to delay certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
The committee targeted Bannon after it was reported that he predicted on January 5, 2021 that “all hell would break loose” the next day and that he was involved in discussions about how to overturn the election results.
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2024-06-28 20:44:36
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