Steve Bannon, once the chief strategist for Donald Trump’s presidential administration, is asking a federal appeals court to let him stay out of prison as he appeals his 4-month sentence and guilty verdict in contempt of Congress for violating a House subpoena.
The sentence, slated to begin on July 1, comes after Bannon’s refusal to answer to Congress over his role in the January 6 attacks on the electoral vote count certification of Joe Biden. The sentence, originally stayed by Trump-appointed D.C. District Court justice Carl Nichols, was put back on schedule by a three-justice panel of the D.C Circuit Court of Appeals.
Bannon’s team begged the circuit appeals court in a Tuesday motion to reconsider, citing his intent to “vigorously pursue his remaining appeals” as cause for release in the 36-page filing.
Bannon, who could take an appeal all the way up the judicial ladder, isn’t the first Trump official to face a contempt of Congress order. Peter Navarro, a former trade advisor, failed in April to convince the Supreme Court he should be free during his appeal on his own failure to respond to a subpoena in the January 6 investigation.
The last-ditch move to buck accountability comes as Bannon has ramped up his far-right, anti-democratic rhetoric ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Bannon, the architect behind Trump-era policies like the unconstitutional “Muslim ban” on immigrants from several middle-eastern countries and attempts to add a citizenship question to the U.S. Census, continues to spew election misinformation and far-right dogma.
The most recent target is the press, with Bannon rallying against journalists and promising that a second Trump administration would come after them.
“The media should understand too, every text message, every email, every lie you told is going to be exposed and yes, you're going to be held accountable,” Bannon said on his War Room podcast, explaining plans to use the national security apparatus to come after critics and opponents of the Trump administration.
