After his appeal is denied, Steve Bannon would soon be going to jail

After his appeal is denied, Steve Bannon would soon be going to jail

Steve Bannon said that by declining to appear before Congress, he was adhering to legal advice.

Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon's felony conviction has been affirmed by a federal appeals court.

After years of legal battle, the decision may soon land 70-year-old Bannon in jail.

In 2022, he was found guilty of contempt of Congress for not supplying the committee looking into the Capitol disturbance on January 6th with records or testimony.

A fresh appeal would be filed, according to Bannon's attorney, who also said that "important constitutional issues at stake" were involved.

Bannon was given a four-month jail term and a $6,500 (£5,200) fine.

However, the right-wing podcaster was allowed to stay out of prison on bail while contesting his sentence. He has denied any criminal activity.

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Steve Bannon is jailed for four months for contempt.

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Bannon was trying to work out a compromise rather than just reject the committee's subpoenas, according to his attorneys, who also described the lawsuit as politically motivated.

When Bannon declined to appear before the House committee looking into the 2021 assault meant to prevent Congress from confirming Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election, he has said that he was acting in accordance with legal advice.

The US DC Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously dismissed Bannon's claim, stating that it "runs headlong into settled law".

On behalf of the court—which also includes appointments from Trump and Obama—Justice Bradley Garcia, a Biden appointee, stated, "This exact 'advice of counsel' defense is no defense at all."

Bannon was not required to start his four-month sentence right away. He has seven days from now to submit a new appeal.

His attorney, David Schoen, said that he will request that the matter be heard by the whole 11-member DC appeals court.

Mr. Schoen said that Bannon would be breaching the law if he testified before Congress and that Donald Trump had used executive privilege, a legal doctrine that permits presidents to keep certain conversations secret.

Mr. Schoen said that Bannon was informed "in no uncertain terms that he was not permitted as a matter of law to in any way respond to the subpoena" by his legal team.

Another prominent Trump assistant, Peter Navarro, reported to jail in March after his own conviction for contempt of Congress.

In a 2021 biography titled "In Trump Time," Navarro claimed to have designed a plan to contest the results of the 2020 election that elected Joe Biden as president.

After playing a pivotal role in Mr. Trump's triumphant 2016 campaign, Bannon joined the White House as chief strategist.

After the horrific far-right protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017, he resigned from that role. The aggressive podcaster was regarded as one of Mr. Trump's closest allies even after he departed.