Steve Bannon must surrender to prison by July 1

(WASHINGTON) — Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, must report to prison by July 1 to serve his four-month sentence for defying a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the attack on the U.S. Capitol , a federal judge ruled Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington granted prosecutors’ request that Bannon begin serving his prison sentence after a three-judge panel of a federal appeals court last month upheld his contempt of Congress’ conviction. But Nichols also made clear Thursday in his decision that Bannon could request a stay of his order, which could delay the date of his surrender.

Nichols, who was appointed to the bench by Trump, a Republican, initially allowed Bannon to remain free while he fought his conviction. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit panel said all of Bannon’s challenges lack merit.

Bannon was convicted in 2022 of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to testify before the January 6 House Committee and the other for refusing to provide documents related to his involvement in Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. for Democrat Joe Biden.

Bannon’s trial lawyer argued that the charges were politically motivated and that the former adviser did not ignore the subpoena but was still engaged in good faith negotiations with the congressional committee when he was charged.

The defense said Bannon acted on the advice of his lawyer at the time, who told him that the subpoena was invalid because the committee would not allow a Trump lawyer to be in the room, and that Bannon could not determine what documents or testimony he could provide because Trump asserted executive privilege.

Defense attorney David Schoen told the judge they planned to ask the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, if necessary, to review the matter. Schoen said it would be unfair to send Bannon to prison now because he would have already served his sentence before those decisions could be made.

“It could serve a political agenda; but it would be a grave injustice,” Schoen wrote in court documents.

A second Trump aide, trade adviser Peter Navarro, was also convicted of contempt of Congress and reported to prison in March to serve a four-month sentence.

Navarro maintained he could not cooperate with the committee because Trump invoked executive privilege. But the courts rejected that argument, concluding that Navarro could not prove that Trump had actually invoked him.