Judge orders ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon to report to prison by July 1
Written by ABC AUDIO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on June 6, 2024
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge has ordered former Trump adviser Steve Bannon to surrender to prison by July 1, revoking his bail.
The Department of Justice had requested that Bannon begin his four-month prison term in connection with his contempt of Congress conviction.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols heard arguments Thursday in Washington, D.C.
MORE: Steve Bannon’s contempt of Congress conviction upheld by appeals court
Following the judge’s ruling, Bannon spoke to cameras outside of the courthouse and reiterated his intent to appeal, but went onto attack top officials at the Justice Department.
“All of this is about one thing. Shutting down the MAGA movement. Shutting down grassroots conservatives, shutting down President Trump,” Bannon said.
“There’s not a prison built or jail built that will ever shut me up,” Bannon said.
Bannon was sentenced to four months for contempt of Congress in October 2022 after he was found guilty of defying a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, but Judge Nichols agreed to postpone the jail term while Bannon appealed the conviction.
After the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Bannon’s conviction last month, federal prosecutors requested that the judge order Bannon to begin his four-month sentence.
Prosecutors have said there is no legal basis for Judge Nichols to continue the stay on Bannon serving his sentence after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals’ conclusive ruling that rejected the basis for Bannon’s appeal on all grounds.
“Consequently, there is no longer a ‘substantial question of law that is likely to result in a reversal or an order for a new trial,'” prosecutors wrote in a filing last month.
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