Steve Bannon, former top adviser to Donald Trump, has been ordered by a federal judge to report to prison by July 1 to serve a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress. The ruling by US District Judge Carl Nichols follows a recent decision by a federal appeals court rejecting Steve Bannon’s attempt to overturn his conviction.
Steve Bannon’s imprisonment will coincide with a critical period in the US presidential campaign as Donald Trump faces Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 5 election. Steve Bannon, a prominent right-wing media figure, stated he would seek intervention from the US Supreme Court, claiming his prosecution is politically motivated. “All this is about one thing: shutting down the MAGA movement,” Steve Bannon said, referencing Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
In 2022, Steve Bannon was convicted on two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. He will be the second former Trump official to go to prison for non-cooperation with the committee, following Peter Navarro, who is currently serving a four-month term.
Steve Bannon was initially allowed to avoid serving his sentence during the appeal process. However, prosecutors moved to end this reprieve after the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dismissed Steve Bannon’s challenge. Despite arguments from Steve Bannon’s lawyers to keep him free pending further appeals, Judge Carl Nichols ruled there was no longer sufficient justification to do so.
“I can no longer conclude that his appeal raises substantial questions of law likely to overturn his conviction,” Carl Nichols said.
Steve Bannon, who was not working in the White House at the time of the Capitol riot, was among Donald Trump advisers attempting to derail the certification of Biden’s 2020 election victory. The congressional panel indicated that Steve Bannon might have had prior knowledge of the events planned for January 6, when Donald Trump supporters breached the Capitol in a failed effort to stop the certification.
