Supreme Court says Trump ally Steve Bannon must begin prison sentence

WASHINGTON − Former Trump aide Steve Bannon is headed to prison after Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday rejected his emergency request to postpone a four-month sentence while he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction.

Bannon is scheduled to report to prison on July 1.

Bannon was convicted in 2022 for defying a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.

U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves opposed letting Bannon remain free because he is unlikely to reverse the verdict or win a new trial.

Bannon said he was relying on his lawyer's advice not to respond to the subpoena until it was resolved whether the former White House aide was protected by President Donald Trump's claim of executive privilege. That doctrine allows presidents to keep confidential some executive branch communications.

House lawyers argued that Bannon had thumbed his nose at the committee and ignored the subpoena.

But the trial judge and one of of three judges on the appeals panel found Bannon's claim that he didn't "willfully" violate the law raises substantial legal questions, Bannon's lawyer, Trent McCotter, told the Supreme Court.

McCotter also argued that if Bannon is imprisoned, he will have served his sentence before the Supreme Court is able to review his case.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday extended the deadline to July 15 for Bannon to ask the full circuit to review his appeal. A three-judge panel rejected his argument and ruled he should go to prison, but the entire circuit of 11 judges could choose to review it.

Lower courts said Bannon unlikely to win on appeal

Both U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who presided over the trial, and a divided panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals found Bannon is unlikely to win his appeal and refused to keep him out of prison in the meantime.

“It was enough that Bannon knew what the subpoena required yet intentionally refused to appear or to produce any of the requested documents,” Judges Cornelia Pillard and Bradley Garcia ruled for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Judge Justin Walker disagreed, writing that Bannon should remain out of prison while the Supreme Court considers his case because his willfulness in defying the committee “is a close question.”

Another former Trump aide, White House aide Peter Navarro, was jailed in March for his conviction for contempt of Congress. Navarro was also convicted of contempt for defying congressional subpoenas for the Jan. 6 inquiry and the Supreme Court refused to keep him out of prison.

Why did the House panel want to question Bannon?

The committee sought to question Bannon, a political strategist for Trump, in part because he told associates from China on Oct. 31, 2020, Trump would falsely declare victory even if he lost the election and said it would be a “firestorm.”

In a podcast, Bannon said former Vice President Mike Pence “spit the bit,” meaning he was no longer supporting Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which the committee described as amplifying the pressure on Pence.

On Jan. 5, Bannon called Trump at least twice on Jan. 5, 2021, and predicted on a right-wing talk radio show that "all hell is going to break loose tomorrow."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Supreme Court says Steve Bannon must begin prison sentence