Appeals court denies Steve Bannon’s attempt to stay out of prison

WASHINGTON – An appeals court denied ex-Trump aide Steve Bannon asked to remain out of prison Thursday while he appeals his conviction on contempt of Congress charges.

The three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied Bannon’s request in a 2-1 decision, with two judges ruling that the arguments in Bannon’s request do not present a “substantial question” of law that could reverse his conviction.

“Bannon’s proposition – that to prove willful noncompliance the government must establish that the witness knew his conduct was unlawful – cannot be reconciled with the Supreme Court’s approach to the statute,” the order from Justices Cornelia Pillard said. and Bradley Garcia.

A third judge, Justin Walker, disagreed, writing that arguments about Bannon’s state of mind when he refused to comply with a Jan. 6 House committee subpoena presented a “closed question” that could be decided in Bannon’s favor. by the Supreme Court.

“This issue may well have been important in the Bannon trial,” Walker wrote.

Bannon was ordered this month to report to prison in July 1st. In previous proceedings before the D.C. Circuit, his lawyers expressed their intention to seek relief from the Supreme Court if the appeals court panel ruled against them.

Bannon’s team unsuccessfully filed the emergency motion on June 11, asking the federal appeals court to overturn a lower court’s ruling that he must report to prison in July.

Bannon’s attorney, Trent McCotter, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night.

An attorney who previously represented Bannon, David Schoen, said he “withdrew the case last Tuesday” after seeing the motion in question being filed, saying he “had nothing to do with the motion.”

An appeals court in May sustained Bannon’s conviction on two counts of contempt of Congress after defying a subpoena for documents related to the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. He was convicted in 2022 and sentenced to four months in prison.

This article was originally published in NBCNews. with