Steve Bannon’s bid to stay out of prison rejected by US appeals court | Steve Bannon

A federal appeals court panel has rejected longtime Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon’s bid to stay out of prison while he fights his conviction for defying a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the US Capitol attack.

Bannon is supposed to report to prison by 1 July to begin serving his four-month sentence for contempt of Congress.

Carl Nichols, a US district judge who was nominated to the bench by Trump, earlier this month granted prosecutors’ request to send Bannon to prison after a three-judge panel of the US court of appeals for the DC circuit upheld his conviction.

Bannon’s lawyers asked the appeals court to allow him to remain free while he continues to fight the conviction all the way up to the supreme court, if necessary. But in a 2-1 vote, the DC circuit panel said Bannon’s case “does not warrant a departure from the general rule” that defendants begin serving their sentence after conviction.

Cornelia Pillard, a judge who was nominated by Barack Obama, and Bradley Garcia, a nominee of Joe Biden, voted to send Bannon to prison. Justin Walker, a judge nominated by Trump, dissented, writing that he should not have to serve time before the supreme court decides whether to take up his case.

Bannon is expected to ask the supreme court to stave off his prison sentence. His attorneys didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Thursday.

Bannon was convicted nearly two years ago of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to sit for a deposition with the House January 6 committee and the other for refusing to provide documents related to his involvement in efforts by Trump, a Republican, to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss to Joe Biden, a Democrat.

Bannon’s lawyer at trial argued that the former Trump adviser didn’t ignore the subpoena but was still engaged in good-faith negotiations with the congressional committee when he was charged. The defense has said Bannon had been relying on the advice of his attorney, who believed that Bannon couldn’t testify or produce documents because Trump had invoked executive privilege.

Lawyers for Bannon say the case raises serious legal questions that will likely need to be resolved by the supreme court, but he will have already finished his prison sentence by the time the case gets there.

In court papers, Bannon’s lawyers also argued that there is a “strong public interest” in allowing him to remain free in the run-up to the 2024 election because Bannon is a top adviser to Trump’s campaign.

Prosecutors said in court papers that Bannon’s “role in political discourse” is irrelevant.

A second Trump aide, trade adviser Peter Navarro, is already serving his four-month prison sentence for contempt of Congress.

The House January 6 committee’s final report asserted that Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the US Capitol, concluding an extraordinary 18-month investigation into the former president and the violent insurrection.