WASHINGTON (AP) — Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, asked the Supreme Court on Friday to delay his prison sentence while he fights his conviction for defying a subpoena from an investigating House committee. Attack on the US Capitol.
Then came the urgent application A federal appeals court panel rejected Bannon’s bid He must avoid jail by July 1 to serve a four-month sentence. It was sent to Chief Justice John Roberts, who oversees emergency appeals from the courts in Washington, DC.
The high court asked the judiciary to respond to the plea by Wednesday, days before the court begins its summer vacation. The court denied a similar request by another Trump aide shortly after receiving a response in March.
Bannon was convicted nearly two years ago Two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to appear before a Jan. 6 House committee and the other for refusing to hand over documents related to Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential bid to Democrat Joe Biden.
Bannon has called the case politically motivated, and his lawyer, David Schoen, said the case raises “serious constitutional issues” that should be examined by the Supreme Court.
If Bannon goes to prison next month, he will have to serve his entire sentence before the high court has a chance to reconsider those questions, as the court is scheduled to take a summer break at the end of June, attorney Trent McCotter wrote. His urgent application.
The former adviser did not ignore the subpoena but was negotiating with a congressional committee when he was indicted, his lawyer says. His previous lawyer told him the subpoena was invalid because the former Republican president had asserted executive privilege and the team did not allow a Trump lawyer in the room.
In court documents, Bannon’s lawyers previously argued there was a “strong public interest” in allowing him to remain free ahead of the 2024 election because Bannon was a top adviser to Trump’s campaign.
Bannon’s prison sentence was delayed as he appealed. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols ordered him to appear on his own after an appeals court panel. He held Congress in contempt.
The second is a Trump aide, a trade adviser Peter Navarro, was also convicted for contempt of Congress. He He was jailed in March to serve a four-month sentence After the Supreme Court rejected his bid to delay the sentence.
Courts rejected his executive privilege argument, saying Navarro couldn’t prove Trump actually exercised it.
Bannon also faces criminal charges in New York state court They cheated the donors who gave money to build the wall On the southern border of the United States. Bannon has pleaded not guilty to money laundering, conspiracy, fraud and other charges, and that trial has been postponed until at least the end of September.
