A federal judge has ordered that Steve Bannon, a former senior advisor to President Trump, must begin serving a four-month prison sentence by July 1. Bannon’s imprisonment stems from his refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena related to the investigation of the January 6th Capitol events.
Judge Carl Nichols issued the directive after rejecting Bannon’s appeal to overturn his conviction. This decision ensures that Bannon, a significant conservative media figure and Trump associate, will be incarcerated during a critical period in the 2024 presidential campaign between Trump and President Joe Biden. Congressman Matt Gaetz quickly took to X to voice his support for Bannon.
In 2022, Bannon was found guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress for failing to provide documents and testify before the House committee investigating the January 6 incident. He joins Peter Navarro, another former Trump official, who is also serving a prison term for defying the same committee.
Bannon had avoided serving his sentence during the appeals process, but prosecutors pushed to enforce the prison term after a federal appeals court upheld his conviction. His attorneys argued that he should remain free while appealing to the full D.C. Circuit court or the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming that Bannon acted on his lawyer’s advice that he was not required to comply with the subpoena.
Although Bannon was not part of the White House staff at the time, he was involved with a group of Trump advisers attempting to challenge the certification of Biden’s 2020 election victory. The congressional panel suggested that Bannon had prior knowledge of the events planned for January 6, when Trump supporters breached the Capitol to halt the certification process.
