A federal judge has ordered Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, to report to prison by July 1 on his conviction for defying a Jan. 6 committee subpoena.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, previously suspended Bannon’s four-month sentence while he appeals his conviction. But on Thursday, Nichols ruled that the original reasons for the postponement no longer applied as a panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals came out strongly and unanimously last month against Bannon’s position.
Bannon intends to continue to appeal the case to the full D.C. Circuit and Supreme Court judges. But unless one of those courts steps in to block Nichols’ decision, it’s unlikely Bannon will be able to avoid prison in the meantime.
If Bannon did indeed go to prison on July 1, that would put him behind bars until just before the November election. In addition to keeping Bannon — who hosts a popular far-right podcast — off the air during a crucial time in the election cycle, Nichols’ decision would also ensure Bannon’s prison sentence. (Asset pardoned Bannon on the last day of his presidency on federal fraud charges.)
Bannon was convicted in July 2022 of two counts of contempt of Congress for obstructing a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
“I don’t believe the original reason for my suspension of Mr. Bannon’s sentence exists anymore,” Nichols said from federal district court in Washington, DC.
Bannon was flanked by his lawyers David Schoen – who previously represented Trump in his impeachment proceedings after January 6 – and Evan Corcoran, who is a key witness in the criminal case against Trump in Florida, where Trump is accused of hoarded classified documents after leaving the White House.
Bannon is the second former Trump White House adviser to be jailed for defying the January 6 committee. Peter Navarro, Trump’s former trade adviser, is currently serving a four-month sentence in Miami for rejecting a subpoena from the panel. The appeals court’s rejection of Navarro’s request not to go to jail was a key factor in Nichols’ decision to revoke Bannon’s bond.
The Jan. 6 committee subpoenaed Bannon at the start of its investigation as part of an initial wave of outreach to top Trump advisers involved in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The panel cited reports that Bannon and Navarro worked together on what they called the “Green Bay Sweep” strategy to orchestrate the challenge of the January 6 congressional election results. Bannon also warned on his popular “War Room” podcast the day before January. .6 that “all hell is going to break loose tomorrow”. And White House call logs obtained by the Jan. 6 committee showed that Trump and Bannon were in contact at key moments in the lead-up to Jan. 6.
Nichols also said his decision to revoke Bannon’s bail was based on the appeals court’s ruling…
