Steve Bannon’s effort to avoid going to jail was rejected on Thursday by a Washington, D.C., appeals court.
Earlier this month, Bannon requested a stay of his impending prison term due to accusations of contempt of Congress from the federal appeals court.
His motion was dismissed by the court, which stated that his justification “does not a warrant a departure from the general rule.” The justices ruled 2-1 that Bannon’s claim does not raise “a close question or one that very well could be decided the other way,” hence a stay would not be appropriate.
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A federal judge issued an order in early June requiring the former president Trump’s adviser to report to prison by July 1 and start serving his four-month sentence for ignoring a congressional subpoena from the House committee looking into the attack on the Capitol building on January 6.
Bannon “knew what the subpoena required yet intentionally refused to appear or to produce any of the requested documents,” the panel stated in its verdict on Thursday.
Additionally, the panel refuted Bannon’s claim that he was “willfully” refusing to comply with the House committee’s requests. The Supreme Court, which has “consistently recognized” that the word “willful” has “many meanings,” was noted by the judges.
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“He offers no evidence to suggest that a higher court will probably reverse the accepted interpretation of ‘willfully’ in the context of violating a manifest obligation to reply to subpoenas from Congress,” the judges penned.
In 2022, Bannon was convicted for neglecting to show up for a deposition scheduled with the House committee on January 6 and for refusing to turn over documents.
After Bannon’s appeal of his conviction was denied by a panel of the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals last month, the Department of Justice moved quickly to put him in jail.
Bannon now has the option to request a review of Thursday’s decision from the entire bench of the appeals court or, if necessary, take his case all the way to the Supreme Court, as his attorneys have stated they would be happy to do.
He is one of two persons who were found guilty of disobeying the committee’s directives on January 6. Peter Navarro, a former Trump advisor, is presently serving a four-month term for contempt.
The lawyer for Bannon has been contacted by The Hill for a response.