Steve Bannon loses his appeal of his contempt of Congress conviction

By Washington desk

Published May 10, 2024 at 12:37 PM EDT

Former Trump White House senior adviser Stephen Bannon speaks to journalists after leaving federal court in Washington, D.C., after being sentenced in 2022. Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison after a federal jury found him guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld former White House adviser Steve Bannon's conviction for criminal contempt of Congress.

Bannon was sentenced in October 2022 to four months in prison on charges related to his refusal to testify before and provide documents to the Jan. 6 committee investigating the attack on the Capitol. At the time, the judge also fined Bannon $6,500 but allowed the former Trump adviser to remain free while he appealed his convictions.

According to Friday's order, the three-judge panel rejected Bannon's argument that he was not guilty because his "lawyer advised him not to respond to the subpoena" from Congress.

Bannon could still appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the justices there previously did not help Peter Navarro, another Trump aide, to stay out of prison on similar charges.