Federal Judge Orders Bannon To Report To Prison

A federal judge has ordered Steve Bannon, a former Trump White House chief strategist, on Thursday to report to prison on July 1 for defying a congressional subpoena.

Bannon was convicted of contempt of Congress for not complying with a subpoena to turn over documents and testify in 2022 to the Democrat-led House Select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. He was sentenced to four months of incarceration.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, had initially stayed the sentence, giving Bannon time to appeal the conviction, but he reversed course this week.

“The United States has moved to lift the stay of Defendant Stephen K. Bannon’s sentence following the Court of Appeals opinion affirming his conviction,” Nichols wrote in his order. “For the reasons explained at today’s hearing, the Court concludes that Defendant’s appeal no longer raises a substantial question of law that is likely to result in a reversal or an order for a new trial under 18 U.S.C. § 3143(b)(1)(B).”

“Accordingly, it is ORDERED that the Motion is GRANTED; it is FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant Stephen K. Bannon shall report to the Bureau of Prisons by July 1, 2024,” the order concluded.Speaking outside of court on Thursday, Bannon said that his team would appeal the case all the way up to the Supreme Court to get it overturned.

“In the two and a half to three years we’ve been here, look at the rise of MAGA, look at the rise of Donald Trump. If the election was held today, according to CNN’s Harry Enten, President Trump would win in a landslide,” Bannon said. “All of this, beside the major illegal issues that have to be addressed, all of this is about one thing. This is about shutting down the MAGA movement, shutting down grassroots conservatives, shutting down President Trump. Not only are we winning, we are going to prevail and every number and every poll shows that.”

“There’s nothing that can shut me up and nothing that will shut me up. There’s not a prison built or a jail built that will ever shut me up,” he continued. “All victory to MAGA, we’re going to win this, we’re going to win at the Supreme Court, and more importantly, we’re going to win on November 5 with an amazing landslide and the Senate, the House, and also Donald J. Trump back as president of the United States.”