Trump Ally Ordered To Serve Prison Time

(PatriotsUnited.org) – A major ally of former President Donald Trump will be behind bars from July 1. Steve Bannon, who served as the top White House strategist in 2017, was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress after defying a House select committee subpoena over the January 6th 2021 Capitol riot.

The Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols had previously paused Bannon’s four-month sentence while the right-wing media executive pursued an appeal. Last Thursday however, Nichols said that the initial justifications for the postponement had expired. This shock move comes after a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel unanimously struck down Bannon’s claims in May.

Bannon says he will carry on appealing his case to the full bench of the D.C. Circuit and the Supreme Court. However, unless these higher courts intervene, Bannon is likely to begin his prison term as scheduled. This timeline places Bannon in prison during a critical stretch of the election cycle, potentially keeping his influential far-right podcast off the air until just before the November elections. Additionally, the timing of Nichols’ decision effectively prevents any potential pardon from Trump should he be re-elected.

This decision will make Bannon the second former Trump aide to be served with a custodial sentence for disagreeing with the January 6th probe. Trump’s ex-trade adviser Peter Navarro, whose appeal was also rejected, is already serving a four-month sentence in Miami over similar offenses. Bannon was subpoenaed by the January 6th committee early in their inquiries, over allegations that he and Navarro worked together to challenge 2020’s Presidential election results in Congress. Bannon also told his podcast on January 5, 2021, that “all hell is going to break loose tomorrow” as well as his communications with Trump in the lead-up to the riot.

Nichols claimed that his ruling had been strongly informed by the appellate court’s firm rejection of Bannon’s main arguments. He noted that the issues in Navarro’s case, which centered on executive privilege claims, differed from Bannon’s, as Bannon had left the administration years before January 6th. Bannon’s primary defense hinged on advice from his former lawyer, Robert Costello, claiming immunity from the committee’s demands.

However, Nichols dismissed this defense, referencing a 1950s case involving mobster Peter “Horseface” Licavoli, which established that witnesses cannot refuse valid congressional subpoenas based on legal advice. As Bannon prepares for his potential imprisonment, his legal team aims to avoid the pitfalls encountered by Navarro, whose appeals were swiftly dismissed by Chief Justice John Roberts without full court consideration.

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