Supreme Court Rejects Steve Bannon’s Bid To Delay Prison Sentence

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a bid to delay a prison sentence for longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon as he appeals his conviction for defying a subpoena in the congressional investigation into the U.S. Capitol insurrection.

Bannon filed an emergency appeal after a judge ordered him to report to prison July 1 for a four-month sentence for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. The court previously denied a similar request from another Trump aide.

The appeal was originally directed to Chief Justice John Roberts, who oversees such requests from Washington. He referred it to the full court.

The court rejected it without explanation, as is typical. There were no noted dissents.

Defense attorneys have argued the case raises issues that should be examined by the Supreme Court, including Bannon’s previous lawyer’s belief that the subpoena was invalid because former President Donald Trump had asserted executive privilege. Prosecutors, though, say Bannon had left the White House years before and Trump had never invoked executive privilege in front of the committee.

A jury found Bannon guilty nearly two years ago of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to sit for a deposition with the Jan. 6 House Committee and a second for refusing to provide documents related to his involvement in the Republican ex-president’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols allowed Bannon to stay free while he appealed but recently ordered him to report to prison after an appeals court panel upheld his contempt of Congress convictions. The panel later rejected Bannon’s bid to avoid reporting to prison.

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