Steve Bannon's attempt to appeal his conviction from outside prison has failed. (File photo from a court hearing in New York on 12 January, 2023.) Photo: AP/ Steven Hirsch
The US Supreme Court has denied a request by Steve Bannon, an influential ally of former President Donald Trump, to keep him out of prison while he appeals his conviction for contempt of Congress for defying a congressional committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
Bannon made the request to the justices on 21 June, after a Washington-based federal appeals court rejected his bid to delay him from reporting to prison on 1 July - this coming Monday - as scheduled.
Trump is the Republican candidate challenging Democratic President Joe Biden in the 5 November US election.
Bannon's sentence could keep him imprisoned for much of the rest of the presidential race.
None of the justices publicly dissented from Friday's decision.
Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison after being convicted in 2022 of two misdemeanour counts of contempt of Congress.
He was charged after he refused to turn over documents or testify to a Democratic-led House of Representatives committee investigating the Capitol riot by Trump supporters who had sought to prevent congressional certification of Biden's 2020 election win.
Rioters breached security and entered the US Capitol on 6 January 202 as Congress debated the presidential election Electoral Vote Certification. Photo: AFP/ Roberton Schmidt
Bannon was a key adviser to Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, then served as his chief White House strategist during 2017, before a falling out between them that was later patched up. He also has played an instrumental role in right-wing media.
He initially was allowed to delay starting his prison term while he appealed his conviction to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The DC Circuit ultimately upheld Bannon's conviction, prompting US District Court Judge Carl Nichols on 6 June to order Bannon to report to prison on 1 July.
Bannon would not be the first former top official from Trump's White House to go to prison for refusing to cooperate with the committee. Peter Navarro, a former Trump trade adviser, reported to prison in March after being given a four-month sentence. The Supreme Court declined Navarro's request to remain free during his appeal.
In their filing to the Supreme Court, Bannon's attorneys argued that he should remain free until the justices are able to make a decision on important legal questions in the case. They said that Bannon's conviction should be overturned because he was wrongfully prevented at trial from presenting evidence that he relied upon the advice of his attorney before refusing to provide documents or testify before Congress.
The US Supreme Court in Washington, on 20 June. Photo: AP/ Mariam Zuhaib
The prosecution during the trial said Bannon showed disdain for the authority of Congress and needed to be held accountable for unlawful defiance. The defence lawyers sought to portray the case as politically motivated.
Trump in 2021 pardoned Bannon on federal criminal charges accusing him of swindling Trump supporters involving an effort to raise private funds to build a wall on the US-Mexico border.
Bannon pleaded not guilty to state charges regarding the border wall fundraising and is awaiting trial.
- Reuters