Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon has been ordered to report to prison by Monday after the Supreme Court denied his last-minute attempt to avoid a four-month sentence for defying subpoenas from the House Jan. 6 committee.
Bannon, convicted in Washington two years ago on two counts of contempt of Congress in July 2022, received his sentence in October of the same year. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols had temporarily suspended the sentence pending Bannon’s appeal, which was ultimately turned down in May. With no further grounds for delay, Nichols set July 1 as the reporting date for Bannon. An appeals court later upheld this decision, leaving Bannon with only the Supreme Court as a final recourse to prevent incarceration.
The contempt charges stemmed from Bannon’s refusal to comply with the Jan. 6 committee’s request for documents and testimony relating to its investigation into former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and his actions leading up to the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.
Bannon’s defense argued that he was acting on legal advice, citing unresolved issues of executive privilege. However, federal prosecutors pointed out that Bannon’s prior role in the Trump administration did not support a claim of executive privilege for the period under investigation.
Former Trump advisor Peter Navarro, who faced similar charges and received a four-month prison sentence, began serving his term in March and is nearing its completion.
At 70 years old, Bannon has already been assigned an inmate number, 05635-509, by the federal Bureau of Prisons.
