The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a bid to delay a prison sentence for Steve Bannon as he appeals his conviction for defying a subpoena in the congressional investigation into the US Capitol insurrection. Bannon filed an emergency appeal after a judge ordered him to report to prison July 1 for a four-month sentence. The appeal was originally directed to Chief Justice John Roberts, who oversees such requests from Washington; he referred it to the full court. The court rejected it Friday without explanation, as is typical, the AP reports. There were no noted dissents. This means Bannon is to report to prison by Monday, per NBC News.
Defense attorneys have argued the case raises issues that should be examined by the Supreme Court, including Bannon's previous lawyer's belief that the subpoena was invalid because Donald Trump had asserted executive privilege. Prosecutors say Bannon had left the White House years before and Trump had never invoked executive privilege to the committee. A jury found Bannon guilty nearly two years ago of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to sit for a deposition with the Jan. 6 House Committee and a second for refusing to provide documents related to his involvement in the Republican ex-president's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.
US District Judge Carl Nichols allowed Bannon to stay free while he appealed but recently ordered him to report to prison after an appeals court panel upheld his contempt convictions. The panel later rejected Bannon's bid to avoid reporting to prison. Bannon is expected to appeal his conviction to the full appeals court, and Republican House leaders have put their support behind stepping in to assert the Jan. 6 committee was improperly created, an effort to deem the subpoena Bannon received as illegitimate. Bannon also faces criminal charges in New York state court alleging he duped donors who gave money to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. That trial has been postponed until at least the end of September.
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