Steve Bannon: Appeals court won’t postpone ex-Trump adviser’s sentence to start July 1

CNN
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A federal appeals court on Thursday night rejected Steve Bannon’s request to delay the July 1 start of his prison sentence for contempt of Congress.

Following the ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, a former adviser to former President Donald Trump is likely to ask the Supreme Court to intervene.

The committee voted 2-1, with Judge Cornelia Pillard, Barack Obama’s nominee, and Judge Bradley Garcia, Joe Biden’s nominee, in the majority, but the majority opinion was unsigned.

Judge Justin Walker, a Trump appointee, dissented from the commission’s decision Thursday night, writing that the precedent Bannon is fighting is “difficult” and that he should remain free of prison while he appeals to the Supreme Court.

CNN has reached out to Bannon for comment.

A jury found Bannon guilty of contempt nearly two years ago for failing to comply with a Jan. 6 subpoena to testify before a House committee, but a judge initially suspended his four-month prison sentence pending the outcome of his appeal.

But earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols lifted the stay on Bannon’s sentence at the request of the Department of Justice, which pointed to a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upholding Bannon’s conviction.

Bannon has stepped up his attacks on the Justice Department in recent days, saying at a conservative rally in Detroit this month that he would “clean up” the department and “dismantle” the FBI if Trump won the election.

Unless the Supreme Court intervenes, Bannon will serve his sentence at a low-security prison in Danbury, Connecticut, CNN previously reported. He will not be sent to the low-security prison known as “Club Fed” because he faces criminal charges in New York state for his role in an allegedly fraudulent “wall-building” fundraising scheme.

Bannon’s lawyers have argued that he should be allowed to avoid prison while he continues to appeal his conviction, and noted that he could have the case reviewed by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and, if necessary, appeal to the Supreme Court.

During the June 6 hearing, Judge Nichols said he initially postponed Bannon’s sentence because he believed there were “significant” legal questions that D.C. Circuit precedent limited the defenses that Bannon could assert at his trial. However, because the D.C. Circuit Division adopted that precedent when it upheld Bannon’s conviction, Judge Nichols said he believed “my original basis for postponing sentence no longer exists.”

Nichols, a Trump appointee, gave Bannon a brief reprieve to obtain emergency intervention from a higher court.

Bannon, a popular conservative podcast host, said in an appeals court filing last week that the Biden administration is trying to silence his criticism of its policies ahead of the election.

“The government seeks to incarcerate Mr. Bannon for the four months leading up to the November election, when millions of Americans will look to him for information on important election issues,” the lawyers said in the filing.

Bannon’s lawyers also argued that being forced to serve his current prison sentence would “effectively prevent Mr. Bannon from meaningfully advising on his ongoing national political campaign.”

Prosecutors countered that “Mr. Bannon’s role in political discourse is simply not a relevant factor” under federal law that governs when a defendant can have a sentence stayed on appeal.

“Mr. Bannon is unable to reconcile his claim for special treatment with the fundamental principle of equality under the law,” prosecutors said in a filing with the appeals court.

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Sara Murray and Dan Berman contributed to this report.