Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon asked a federal appeals court on Tuesday to allow him to stay out of the country. prison he continues to appeal his nearly two-year conviction on criminal charges against Congress.
Bannon filed an emergency motion Tuesday night with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, asking the court to overturn a lower court’s ruling last week that required him to go to prison for four months on July 1.
Bannon is asking the D.C. Circuit to rule on his motion quickly — by June 18 — to give him time to appeal to the Supreme Court, if necessary. Conviction on two counts of contempt of Congress 2022 after refusing to answer questions from the January 6 House committee.
Bannon’s lawyer argued in a filing Tuesday that his arrest would prevent the Trump ally from acting as a “meaningful adviser” to the campaign ahead of the November election.
“The administration is trying to imprison Mr. Bannon for four months before the November election, when millions of Americans turn to him for information on important campaign issues,” wrote Trent McCotter, who recently joined Bannon’s legal team. “It would also prevent Mr. Bannon from serving as a meaningful adviser in the ongoing national campaign.”
Last month, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit He supported Bannon’s contempt of Congress ruling, It prompted the judge presiding over Bannon’s case to order him to report to prison at the end of the month.
District Judge Carl Nichols appointed by former US President Donald Trump he said last week After the appeals court upheld the conviction, there is no longer a “substantial basis” for Bannon’s suspension.
Nichols had previously allowed Bannon to stay out of jail while he pursued that appeal.
Bannon’s attorneys said they intend to ask the full bench of the D.C. Circuit to hear their client’s appeal and not require Bannon to report to prison until all other avenues of appeal have been exhausted.
who is a prosecutor from the US Attorney’s Office for DC tried to raise his stay Appeals for Bannon’s sentence did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night.
It was Bannon was convicted Imprisonment up to 4 months, same punishment Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro is currently serving.
Navarro also fought his way out of prison after being convicted of contempt of Congress.
The former Trump aide took his emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, where it was first dismissed by Chief Justice John Roberts and second by the full court. Navarro is currently serving a four-month sentence in a federal prison in Miami.