Steve Bannon Loses Appeal on Contempt of Congress Conviction

Facts

• A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on Friday denied Steve Bannon's appeal to overturn his criminal conviction, issued for ignoring a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection.¹
• The judges unanimously ruled that the argument made by the lawyers for Bannon — that the former adviser to Donald Trump was following 'advice of counsel' when he failed to answer the subpoena — was 'no defense at all.'²
• Bannon can still go to the full court of appeals or request the Supreme Court intervenes in his conviction. If further appeals are attempted, he wouldn't have to report to prison until seven days after any such efforts are resolved.³
• In 2022, Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $6.5K after being indicted on two contempt of Congress charges, including refusal to hand over documents to the committee.⁴
• Former trade adviser to Trump, Peter Navarro, reported to prison in March to serve an identical sentence for not complying with a subpoena after SCOTUS rejected his appeal.⁵
• Bannon has yet to go to trial in Manhattan on state charges that he misused money raised for a group supporting Trump's border wall. The former president granted a full pardon to him in a separate case in 2021.⁶

Sources: ¹FOX News, ²BBC News, ³NBC, ⁴Forbes, ⁵New York Post and ⁶New York Times.

Narratives

• Anti-Trump narrative, as provided by Mother Jones. The justice system often fails to hold rich, politically connected defendants accountable, so the fact that Bannon remains free isn't surprising. However, he is now a step closer to prison, as the appeals court has upheld his conviction. His last hope may be to postpone his arrest so that Trump can pardon him again in the event of a re-election.
• Pro-Trump narrative, as provided by Breitbart. It's disturbing that a federal three-judge panel has found that a private citizen can be criminally liable for following legal advice to respond to a subpoena, particularly because the concept of 'willfully' in the criminal law context requires the defendant to believe his actions were wrong. This development can only pave the way for political abuses of congressional hearings.

Predictions