Former adviser to President Trump, Steve Bannon, filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court on Friday, challenging his conviction for fleeing a House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, in a last-ditch effort to avoid prison.
“An equitable approach strongly supports Mr. Bannon’s continued release,” Bannon’s lawyer, Trent McCotter, wrote in a 47-page appeal to the high court.
“There is also no denying the fact that the government is seeking to imprison Mr. Bannon for four months immediately preceding the November presidential election,” McCotter added. “There is no reason for this outcome in a case with significant legal issues.”
Bannon was convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress in 2022 after failing to appear before a House committee on Jan. 6 and refusing to turn over documents. A federal judge sentenced him to four months in prison and ordered him to report to prison by July 1.
Late Thursday, a federal appeals panel in a 2-1 decision rejected Bannon’s attempt to avoid jail, with the majority finding that Bannon “knew the contents of the subpoena and willfully refused to appear and to produce the documents requested.”
In a dissenting opinion, Judge Justin Walker, an appointee of former President Trump, wrote that Bannon should not be jailed before the Supreme Court can consider his appeal of his conviction.
“Applicant Bannon seeks the limited relief of continued bail pending the completion of his further appeals. As explained in his dissent, Judge Walker, in the lower court, would have granted this relief,” McCotter wrote.
The Department of Justice’s response to Bannon’s request is due by June 26.
Bannon is the second Trump adviser to be sentenced to prison in connection with his attempt to evade a House committee on January 6. Former Trump economic adviser Peter Navarro is currently serving a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress after all emergency appeals, including to the Supreme Court, were rejected. He is due for release on July 17.
Updated 11:37 a.m.
