The high court’s rejection came in one sentence: “Pending appeal of acquittal presented to the Chief Justice and the petition sent by him to the court is dismissed.” The court did not give its reasons, but Jan. 6, 2021, lower courts said Bannon failed to raise substantial legal questions over his two-count conviction for refusing to provide documents or testimony to a House committee investigating the attack on the US capital.
Bannon had asked the judges An emergency restraining order was imposed on June 21 after his DC-based trial judge and judges Heard the appeal His conviction rejected similar claims. Both courts said Bannon had no chance of succeeding in arguing that he relied on the advice of an attorney and did not “willfully” violate the law by ignoring a congressional subpoena.
David I. Schoen, the attorney who represented Bannon through his trial and sentencing, said Friday: “I absolutely believe the sentence will be commuted, and it’s a shame to see this mishandled. He should never go to jail for a single day.”
As the 2024 election approaches, Bannon’s lawyers have argued that as a “top adviser to President Trump’s campaign,” he should have the ability to “participate in the campaign and comment on important policy issues.”
Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Preloger wrote that Bannon did not qualify for an “extraordinary” exception to the statute, arguing to the Supreme Court that “the showing of pleas cannot be made necessary to override the natural requirement that a convicted defendant begin serving his sentence.”
The court’s rebuff to Bannon came after Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro, 74, rejected a similar stay-out-of-jail request. He is scheduled to complete his four-month sentence on July 17 after becoming the first person to be jailed. Contempt of Congress since the Cold War. Navarro was convicted in September of the same charges as Bannon, after he wrote in a memoir that he and Bannon had a plan to prevent Joe Biden from taking office.
Jan. 6, 2021, both argued they could not testify before a House committee investigating the capital attack because they were covered by executive privilege from Congress.
But unlike two other top Trump aides the justices have declined to charge for failing to appear before the committee — former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and communications chief Dan Scavino — neither Bannon nor Navarro received letters from a lawyer. The former president instructed them not to respond to the committee’s subpoenas, specifically citing privilege.
Instead, Trump’s lawyer at the time told Bannon’s lawyers the opposite, despite Trump suggesting before the hearing that Bannon had executive privilege.
Trump’s White House attorney wrote, “We do not believe your client has immunity from testimony.”
Bannon has maintained a high political profile, advising Trump and others on the 2024 campaign and speaking on his “War Room” podcast. The former chief strategist for Trump’s 2016 campaign served a year in the White House, and the Capitol riots helped guide the Trump movement’s comeback.
He faces other legal challenges. Last summer a New York state judge ordered him to pay nearly $500,000 in legal fees to lawyers representing him in a number of cases, including a criminal case that defrauded donors of the U.S.-Mexico wall effort. border Trump pardoned Bannon over the allegations.
