Appeals court won’t delay July 1 start of Steve Bannon’s prison sentence

A federal appeals court Thursday night rejected Steve Bannon’s bid to delay the July 1 start of his criminal contempt-of-Congress prison sentence.

A federal appeals court Thursday night rejected Steve Bannon’s bid to delay the July 1 start of his criminal contempt-of-Congress prison sentence. Following the ruling from the US DC Circuit Court of Appeals, it is likely the former adviser to former President Donald Trump will seek the intervention of the Supreme Court. Judge Justin Walker, a Trump appointee, dissented from the panel’s Thursday night decision, writing that the precedent Bannon is contesting is a “close” question and that Bannon should be allowed to stay out of prison while he appeals it to the Supreme Court. A jury found Bannon guilty of contempt nearly two years ago for not complying with a House January 6 Committee subpoena for his testimony, but his trial judge initially paused his four-month prison sentence for his appeal to play out. Earlier this month, however, US District Judge Carl Nichols lifted that hold on Bannon’s sentence at the request of the Justice Department, which pointed to a recent decision by the DC Circuit that upheld his conviction. In recent days, Bannon has amped his rhetoric against the Justice Department, telling a conservative gathering in Detroit this month that they would “purge” the department and “take apart” the FBI if Trump won the election.