Steve Bannon Ordered to Prison July 1: Legal Battles Continue

Steve Bannon, a close ally of Donald Trump, must report to prison by July 1 to serve a four-month sentence for defying a subpoena related to the Capitol insurrection investigation. Despite plans to appeal further, a federal judge declared that the original basis for delaying his prison term no longer exists.

Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, must report to prison by July 1 to serve his four-month sentence for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington granted the Justice Department's request to make Bannon start his prison term after a federal appeals court panel upheld his contempt of Congress conviction last month.

Bannon is expected to seek a stay of the judge's order, which could delay his surrender date. "We're going to go all the way to the Supreme Court if we have to," Bannon told reporters outside the courthouse. "There's not a prison built or jail built that will ever shut me up."

In a social media post Thursday, Trump accused prosecutors of being "desperate" to jail Bannon, reiterating that Republicans are being persecuted by a politically motivated justice system.

Bannon was convicted nearly two years ago on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with the Jan. 6 House Committee. Judge Nichols had initially allowed him to remain free during his appeals but said that the situation changed after the appeals court panel found all of Bannon's challenges lack merit.

Despite plans to appeal his conviction to the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court, prosecution believes it's unlikely Bannon will succeed. His lawyer argues the case raises serious constitutional issues. Meanwhile, a second Trump aide, Peter Navarro, also convicted of contempt of Congress, began serving his sentence in March.

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