On the same day that President Donald Trump won his presidential immunity case at the Supreme Court, his former advisor Steve Bannon became federal inmate No. 05635-509 in a Danbury, Connecticut prison.
Bannon was convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress in July of 2022, and sentenced to four months in prison. He gave no defense during the trial, which had testimony from two government employees, one of whom was the staff director to the House Select Committee.
The conviction was based on the fact that Bannon had refused to show up to take questions from the House Democrats’ Jan. 6 Committee, an inquisition that demanded he testify about Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 election and any involvement Trump had in the Jan. 6 protest at the Capitol.
“The defendant chose allegiance to Donald Trump over compliance with the law,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Gaston told jurors during the trial.
The former strategist for Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Friday to pause his prison sentence while he appeals it, but the court denied his request.
Bannon’s lawyer had told the Supreme Court that Bannon was waiting for issues of executive privilege to be settled, and thus asked for an extended delay for the prison sentence. The court ruled that he had not been part of the executive branch on Jan. 6, and therefore was not subject to the executive privilege claim.
Bannon, age 70, spoke to reporters and a cheering crowd of supporters, calling himself “political prisoner,” as he entered the prison. By taking him out of the public square for four months, the Biden Justice Department ensures he will not be able to influence public opinion between now and the general election. Bannon has a popular podcast, and he recorded his last episode just hours before reporting to the prison gate.
The House Select Committee was retired when Republicans took over the House in January. It had been viewed by conservatives as a partisan witch-hunt, and was chaired by Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson and Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, who closely aligns with the Democrats.
Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro was also sentenced to four months in federal prison and is finishing up that sentence, which began March 19. He was the first of the Trump White House to be convicted for contempt of Congress subsequent to the 2020 election in a case he said was the “partisan weaponization of the judicial system.”
Unlike Bannon, Navarro did mount a defense and pled not guilty, saying he couldn’t cooperate with the committee because Trump had invoked executive privilege. The lower courts rejected his argument and said Navarro couldn’t prove Trump had invoked it.
It’s unclear what Monday’s Supreme Court ruling on executive privilege and absolute immunity of the president will have on Navarro and Bannon, but it appears that the legal system had been weaponized against them. If Trump is elected in November, however, he may have the power to pardon them both.
The House, now controlled by Republicans, has now voted to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress. The Justice Department, however, says it will not bring charges against the man who runs the Justice Department.
“We’re going to be as aggressive as we can and use every tool in our arsenal,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson last week, referring to pursuing criminal charges against Garland for contempt of Congress.
Steve Bannon’s podcast channel is at this link.
