The federal government told the Supreme Court not to give Trump ally Steve Bannon a get out of jail card in a filing on Wednesday.
U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the justices that Mr. Bannon should not be allowed to remain free while his contempt of Congress conviction is under appeal unless he can show the verdict is likely to be reversed.
“He cannot make that demanding showing,” she said.
Mr. Bannon petitioned the Supreme Court on Friday to stay out of prison during his appeal. He was convicted of not complying with a subpoena from House Democrats’ Jan. 6 committee.
“There is no dispute that Mr. Bannon ‘is not likely to flee or pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community if released’ — indeed, he has been out on release for years now without incident, and his ‘crime’ was nonviolent,” the petition read.
Ms. Prelogar dismissed Mr. Bannon’s argument that he was concerned about executive privilege since he had worked for former President Trump, arguing in the feds’ filing that even the former president’s lawyers suggested there was no authority for Mr. Bannon’s noncompliance with the subpoena.
Earlier this month, Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, ordered Mr. Bannon to surrender to prison to serve a four-month sentence for defying the subpoena after an appeals court upheld his conviction.
But the judge said the one-time senior White House aide could request a stay of the order, suggesting the jail surrender could be delayed.
Mr. Bannon was convicted in 2022 for declining to appear for a deposition with the House Jan. 6 committee probing the U.S. Capitol attack in 2021 and refusing to provide documents related to challenging the 2020 election results.
He is ordered to turn himself in to jail on Monday.
A federal appeals court didn’t grant him relief, prompting the petition Friday to the high court.
Peter Navarro, who served as President Trump’s National Trade Council director, has already began serving time in prison over the same conviction.
He asked the Supreme Court to review his case and keep him from jail while the appeal is pending, but the high court didn’t agree.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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