Lawsuit

Steve Bannon appeals conviction in Jan. 6 Congress contempt case

Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, was sentenced Friday to serve four months behind bars after defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. (Oct. 21)

FILE – Steve Bannon speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2023, March 3, 2023, at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md. Former President Donald Trump’s longtime ally has appealed his criminal conviction for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s longtime ally Steve Bannon on Thursday appealed his criminal conviction for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Bannon’s attorney argued he didn’t ignore the subpoena, but was trying to avoid running afoul of executive privilege objections Trump had raised.

“Mr. Bannon acted in the only way he understood from his lawyer that he was permitted to behave,” attorney David Schoen said, adding that Bannon was wrongly blocked from making that argument at trial.

Join YouTube banner

Prosecutors, though, said Bannon was no longer working at the White House during the runup to Jan. 6 and refused to work with the committee to determine if there were questions he could answer. “Stephen Bannon deliberately chose not so comply in any way with lawful congressional subpoena,” said prosecutor Elizabeth Danello.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit took the case under consideration.

Bannon, 69, was convicted in July 2022 of two counts of contempt of Congress and later sentenced that October to four months in prison. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols put the sentence was on hold as his appeal played out, later saying in court documents he expected the case to be overturned.

A second Trump aide, trade advisor Peter Navarro, was also convicted of contempt of Congress this past September and has also vowed to appeal. The House panel had sought their testimony about Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Source: Money For Lunch