Steve Bannon’s Legal Hail Mary Shot Down

A federal appeals court has rejected Steve Bannon‘s plea to delay his four-month prison sentence while he continues to appeal his contempt charges.

Bannon, former White House strategist under the Trump administration, was found guilty in 2022 on two counts of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena to testify before the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. He was sentenced to four months of prison after the verdict, although U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols allowed a stay on Bannon’s sentencing while he appealed.

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld Bannon’s conviction in May, although he has continued to fight his charges, including submitting an emergency appeal to the same federal appeals court last week, asking for another pause on his sentencing. Bannon on Thursday was ordered to self-surrender to prison on July 1.

Two of the three appellate judges on the D.C. panel denied Bannon’s most recent request Thursday, writing that his “ground for requesting release does not warrant a departure from the general rule that a defendant ‘shall … be detained’ following conviction.”

The Context

Bannon, a conservative political commentator and host of the War Room podcast, was convicted of contempt charges for refusing to sit for a deposition with the January 6 House committee and for declining orders to turn over documents for which the committee had subpoenaed. The panel sought information related to charges facing former President Donald Trump, who’s accused of attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

In his emergency appeal to the D.C. Court of Appeals on June 11, Bannon’s lawyers argued that his sentencing should be delayed “pending conclusion of his appeals, including to the Supreme Court.” The defense team also claimed that the defendant was being targeted by President Joe Biden‘s administration for being a “high-profile political commentator and campaign strategist” who often criticizes the White House.

“The government seeks to imprison Mr. Bannon for the four-month period leading up to the November election, when millions of Americans look to him for information on important campaign issues,” the filing read.

What We Know

The two appellate judges who denied Bannon’s emergency appeal were Judge Cornelia Pillard, an Obama appointee, and Judge Bradley Garcia, a Biden appointee. The pair cast doubts on Bannon’s claims that the Supreme Court was likely to overrule his conviction over prosecutors’ alleged “failure” to prove that the defendant had willfully ignored his subpoenas.

Bannon’s lawyer argued during trial that he was engaged in negotiations with the congressional committee when he was charged with contempt, reported the Associated Press.

The D.C. appeals court wrote that Bannon “provides no basis to conclude that a higher court is likely to upend” his conviction over the “established understanding of ‘willfully’ in the context of contempt.”

This is a developing story and will be updated as further information becomes available.