Steve Bannon Seeks Supreme Court Delay for Prison Term

(LibertySociety.com) – Popular podcast host Steve Bannon, who served as a White House strategist during the Trump administration, recently filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court in an effort to remain free while he appeals his convictions for contempt of Congress. Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Bannon after he refused to be deposed by the January 6th Committee and declined to provide requested documents related to his role in former President Trump’s questioning of the results of the 2020 election.

Chief Justice John Roberts sent a request to the DOJ to respond to Bannon’s emergency application by June 26, signaling that the high court could rule on the matter before recessing for the summer. A similar request was filed by former Trump administration adviser Peter Navarro in March, but the court chose not to hear his case. Bannon’s attorney, David Schoen, has said that Bannon was cooperating with the committee when he was charged, but that he had not reached an agreement on the terms of his testimony.

Additionally, Bannon’s attorney at the time told him that the subpoena was unenforceable because Trump had asserted executive privilege, but also due to the committee’s refusal to allow an attorney who also represented then-President Trump in the room during Bannon’s deposition. The podcast host is a key figure in the America First movement and a dominant alternative to conservative mainstream outlets. His attorneys have reasoned that there was “strong public interest” in delaying his prison sentence because of his role as an adviser to Trump’s 2024 campaign.

Unlike Navarro, Bannon was allowed to remain free while an appeals court reviewed his case, but once it upheld the lower court’s convictions, Bannon was ordered to report to prison by July 1 to serve a four-month sentence. On June 26, the DOJ responded to Roberts’ request. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar urged the court to reject Bannon’s request, arguing that it did not meet the standards required by the court to take up a case.