WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday accepted a request from Steve Bannonan influential ally of the former president Donald Trumpto keep him out of prison while he appeals his conviction for contempt of Congress for ignoring a congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Bannon made the request to the judges on June 21 after a federal appeals court in Washington denied his request to delay his scheduled return to prison on July 1 — next Monday. Trump is the Republican candidate representing the Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 5 U.S. election. Bannon’s sentence could keep him in prison for much of the remainder of the presidential race.
No judge has publicly spoken out against Friday’s decision.
Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison after being convicted in 2022 of two felony counts of contempt of Congress. He was charged after refusing to hand over documents or testify before a Democratic-led House committee investigating the Capitol riots by Trump supporters who had tried to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s 2020 election victory .
Bannon was a key adviser to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and then served as his chief strategist in the White House in 2017 before a falling out between the two that was later resolved. He has also played a major role in the right-wing media.
He was initially allowed to delay the start of his prison sentence while he appealed his conviction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The D.C. Circuit ultimately affirmed Bannon’s conviction, leading U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols on June 6 to order Bannon to report to prison on July 1.
Bannon would not be the first former top Trump White House official to go to prison for refusing to cooperate with the committee. Peter Navarro, a former trade adviser to Trump, reported to prison in March after receiving a four-month prison sentence. The Supreme Court denied Navarro’s request to remain free during his appeal.
In their petition to the Supreme Court, Bannon’s lawyers argued that he should remain free until the justices could rule on key legal issues in the case. They said Bannon’s conviction should be overturned because he was improperly prevented during the trial from presenting evidence that he relied on his lawyer’s advice before refusing to provide documents or testify before Congress.
The prosecutor said during the trial that Bannon showed contempt for the authority of Congress and that he should be held accountable for unlawful resistance. Defense attorneys tried to portray the case as politically motivated.
Trump pardoned Bannon in 2021 on federal criminal charges accusing him of defrauding Trump supporters in connection with an effort to raise private money for construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Bannon has pleaded not guilty to state charges related to the border wall fundraising and is awaiting trial.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Andrew Chung in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham)
