DOJ Moves to Void Bannon’s Contempt of Congress Conviction (1)

The Justice Department moved to toss Trump ally Steve Bannon’s contempt of Congress conviction, potentially preventing the US Supreme Court from weakening the criminal statute for spurning Capitol Hill oversight.

US Attorney for Washington, Jeanine Pirro, asked the district court on Monday to dismiss Bannon’s case—which led to a 2024 jury conviction—with prejudice in “the interests of justice.”

Solicitor General John Sauer jointly filed a brief asking the high court to send Bannon’s petition for review down to lower courts in light of Pirro’s motion.

Bannon already served a four-month prison sentence stemming from his refusal to testify before the House Jan. 6 committee. Rather than seek a pardon from President Donald Trump, his lawyers filed a petition in October requesting the Supreme Court overturn his conviction because he didn’t know his conduct was unlawful.

“Today the Department of Justice told the Supreme Court that Steve Bannon’s conviction arising from the J6 ‘Unselect’ Committee’s improper subpoena should be vacated,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “Under the leadership of Attorney General Bondi, this Department will continue to undo the prior administration’s weaponization of the justice system.”

If the justices were to grant review of the matter and rule in favor of Bannon, it could lead to a new standard that would make it tougher for DOJ to prosecute Republican criminal referrals of their targets who’ve dodged subpoenas.

Before an 11th-hour deal for them to testify, the House was set to vote last week on holding former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in criminal contempt for defying subpoenas over their ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Trent McCotter, one of Bannon’s defense attorneys who was lead author of his Supreme Court petition, joined DOJ as an associate deputy attorney general in January. A department spokesperson said McCotter wasn’t involved in the dismissal request.

Pirro was the only named attorney on the Washington US attorney’s office filing.