Supreme Court rejects Trump ally Stephen Bannon’s bid to delay prison sentence
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has rejected a bid to delay a prison sentence for longtime Trump ally Stephen K. Bannon as he appeals his conviction for defying a subpoena in the congressional investigation into the U.S. Capitol insurrection.
Bannon filed an emergency appeal after a judge ordered him to report to prison July 1 for a four-month sentence for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. The court previously denied a similar request from another Trump aide.
The appeal was originally directed to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who oversees such requests from Washington. He referred it to the full court.
The court rejected it on Friday without explanation, as is typical. There were no noted dissents.
The Supreme Court undercuts the most serious charges against Trump supporters who in the Jan. 6 riot tried to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s presidential victory.
Defense attorneys have argued the case raises issues that should be examined by the Supreme Court, including Bannon’s previous lawyer’s belief that the subpoena was invalid because former President Trump had asserted executive privilege. Prosecutors, though, say Bannon had left the White House years before and Trump had never invoked executive privilege in front of the committee.
A jury found Bannon guilty nearly two years ago of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to sit for a deposition with the Jan. 6 House Committee and a second for refusing to provide documents related to his involvement in the Republican ex-president’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols allowed Bannon to stay free while he appealed but recently ordered him to report to prison after an appeals court panel upheld his contempt of Congress convictions. The panel later rejected Bannon’s bid to avoid reporting to prison.
A Supreme Court ruling will make it harder to enforce new federal agency rules on the environment, worker rights and healthcare.
Bannon is expected to appeal his conviction to the full appeals court, and Republican House leaders have put their support behind stepping in to assert the Jan. 6 committee was improperly created, effectively trying to deem the subpoena Bannon received as illegitimate.
Another Trump aide, trade advisor Peter Navarro, has also been convicted of contempt of Congress. He reported to prison in March to serve his four-month sentence after the Supreme Court refused his bid to delay the sentence.
Bannon is also facing criminal charges in New York state court alleging he duped donors who gave money to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Bannon has pleaded not guilty to money laundering, conspiracy, fraud and other charges, and that trial has been postponed until at least the end of September.
Whitehurst writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Farnoush Amiri contributed to this story.
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