Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon asked a federal appeals court on Tuesday to let him remain out of prison while he continues to appeal a nearly two-year-old conviction on criminal contempt of Congress charges.
Bannon filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday evening, asking the court to overrule a lower court’s ruling from last week that ordered him to report to prison for four months on July 1.
Bannon is asking the DC Circuit to quickly rule on his motion — by June 18 — to allow him time if necessary to appeal to the Supreme Court on his conviction on two counts of contempt of Congress in 2022, after he refused to answer questions from the House Jan. 6 committee.
Bannon’s attorney argued in Tuesday’s filing that his imprisonment would block the Trump ally from acting as a “meaningful adviser” in the campaign leading up to the November election.
“The government seeks to imprison Mr. Bannon for the four-month period leading up to the November election, when millions of Americans look to him for information on important campaign issues,” wrote Trent McCotter, a new addition to Bannon’s legal team. “This would