Supreme Court Clears Way for Dismissal of Bannon’s Contempt Conviction

The Supreme Court on Monday set aside the appeals court ruling that upheld Steve Bannon’s conviction for contempt of Congress and sent the case back to the appeals court in Washington, clearing a path for the Justice Department to have the conviction thrown out. The order was brief and noted no dissents, according to CBS News.

Steve Bannon was convicted in 2022 on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with subpoenas from the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, CBS News and NBC News reported. CBS News said the committee had sought documents and testimony from him. Bannon argued he could not comply because Mr. Trump had invoked executive privilege, and was convicted.

He was sentenced to four months in prison and fined $6,500, NBC News reported, and served the sentence in 2024 after the Supreme Court denied his bid to stay out of prison while he appealed. In May 2024 a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the conviction, CBS News said.

The Trump administration said in February that it planned to ask for dismissal “in the interests of justice,” NBC News reported. CBS News said Solicitor General D. John Sauer used the same phrase in the department’s filing, and that the Justice Department has now asked the district court to dismiss the case. The order wipes out the appeals court decision that upheld the conviction.

Bannon’s lawyers described the prosecution as “ill-conceived” and “unjust,” CBS News reported. His attorney Michael Buschbacher said it “should never have been brought,” NBC News reported. The Justice Department’s position is that dropping the case serves the interests of justice.

The order gave no reasoning, according to CBS News, so the justices’ view of the case is not known. The reports did not quote any member of Congress on the decision.

Bannon has already served his sentence. The Supreme Court had earlier rejected what NBC News called his last-ditch bid to avoid serving the sentence. The Justice Department’s request to dismiss is now pending before the district court, according to CBS News, and no ruling on it had been reported as of Monday. NBC News called the expected dismissal a mostly symbolic outcome.