Biden-Appointed Prosecutor Asks Judge To Jail Steve Bannon

The Biden administration asked a federal judge on Tuesday to order former Trump White House aide Steve Bannon to report to serve a four-month prison sentence.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Bannon’s appeal in a unanimous ruling Friday. Prosecutors with the Department of Justice asked United States District Judge Carl J. Nichols of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to order Bannon to report to federal prison, according to court documents.

“The D.C. Circuit rejected defendant’s appeal on all grounds, including the primary argument on appeal: the requisite mental state required for a contempt of Congress violation,” prosecutors said in the filing. “Consequently, there is no longer a ‘substantial question of law that is likely to result in a reversal or an order for a new trial.’”

A jury convicted Bannon in July 2022 of defying a subpoena from the Jan. 6 Committee after Congress voted to hold him in contempt of Congress. Judge Nichols sentenced Bannon to serve four months in prison in October 2022.

Bannon would join former Trump aide Peter Navarro, who began serving a four-month sentence in March after being convicted on similar charges, in prison if the judge grants the DOJ’s request. The DOJ initially requested that Bannon be sentenced to six months in prison.