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Washington: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s former senior adviser, must serve a four-month prison sentence by July 1 for contempt of Congress, a federal judge said Thursday.
The verdict means Bannon, a right-wing media provocateur who has maintained influence in Trump’s circle, is likely to be jailed during a crucial stage in the U.S. presidential campaign, the Nov. 5 election, pitting former President Donald Trump against Democrat Joe Biden.
Steve Bannon was convicted in 2022 of two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress.Credit: Associated Press
The order came after U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington last month rejected Bannon’s request to overturn his conviction for refusing a subpoena from a congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Bannon told reporters outside the court that he would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene, saying the prosecution against him was politically motivated.
“This is all about one thing: shutting down the ‘Make America Great Again’ movement,” Bannon said, referring to Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
In 2022, Bannon was convicted of two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over documents or testify before a Democratic-led House committee.
Bannon would become the second former senior Trump administration official to go to jail for refusing to cooperate with the committee. Former trade adviser Peter Navarro The current term is four months.
Bannon was allowed to avoid serving his sentence while he appealed. Prosecutors decided to terminate the suspended sentence after three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Bannon’s challenge to his conviction.
Bannon’s lawyers urged Nichols to let Bannon go free, saying he could still appeal to the D.C. Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court. Bannon argued that his lawyers told him he did not have to comply with the subpoena and therefore he had no intent to commit a crime.
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