Judge to Decide on Steve Bannon's Prison Status During Appeal

Federal prosecutors have requested that U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols lift the stay on Steve Bannon's four-month prison sentence for contempt of Congress. Bannon, a former White House chief strategist, was convicted in 2022 for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Prosecutors argue that there are no significant legal issues remaining after a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel unanimously upheld Bannon's conviction and rejected his appeal on all grounds.

Bannon's defense, led by lawyer David I. Schoen, contends that the legal issues prompting the stay remain unresolved until potentially reviewed by the full D.C. Circuit or the Supreme Court. Judge Nichols had postponed Bannon's sentence pending the appeal, but with the appellate court's decision, the Department of Justice has pushed for the sentence to be enforced, arguing that there is no legal basis to continue the stay. The federal judge will now consider whether Bannon should begin serving his prison term.