Donald Trump‘s former White House strategist Steve Bannon, who defied a subpoena issued by the House Select Committee on the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, has been ordered by a judge to report to jail to begin serving his four month sentence for contempt of Congress. (Bannon has spent two years appealing the charge, during which the judge delayed his sentencing.)
[Note: Former White House economist Peter Navarro, who also appealed his contempt of Congress charge and was rejected by the Supreme Court, is currently serving his four months in prison.]
Bannon’s latest “emergency motion for release pending appeal” document, which was submitted to the Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., states: “There is also a strong public interest in Mr. Bannon remaining free during the run-up to the 2024 presidential election,” and “No one can dispute that Mr. Bannon remains a significant figure. He is a top advisor to the President Trump campaign.”
This appeal raises the question of whether the association between Trump and Bannon — ongoing, as the appeal makes clear — is legal, since both men are convicted felons, making their association prohibited under common probation conditions.
(Note: Bannon’s appeal notes that he works with the Trump “campaign,” which does not mean he is associating directly with the candidate, though Trump is known to be very directly involved in the workings of his campaign team.)
.@aweissmann_ on Trump’s upcoming probation Zoom: “He’ll be asked about whether he is associating with criminals. And it is sort of remarkable… he’s going to have to discuss whether he still coordinates with Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Steve Bannon.” pic.twitter.com/zygWV6ariT
— Inside with Jen Psaki (@InsideWithPsaki) June 9, 2024
According to the U.S. Courts, convicted felons “must not knowingly communicate or interact with” other convicted felons “without first getting the permission of the probation officer.”
The purpose of the condition “is to prevent antisocial relationships and to encourage prosocial relationships. It provides defendants with a justification to avoid associating with persons convicted of felonies and may deter future criminal conduct that may be jointly undertaken with those persons.”
Bannon’s appeal also claims that if Bannon does go to prison his “ability to participate in the campaign and comment on important matters of policy would be drastically curtailed, if not eliminated.”