WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, must report to prison by July 1 to serve his four-month sentence for defying a subpoena from the House committee that investigated , a federal judge ruled Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington granted the Justice Department's request to make Bannon begin his prison term after a federal appeals court panel last month .
Bannon is expected to seek a stay of the judge's order, which could delay his surrender date.
鈥淚鈥檝e got great lawyers, and we鈥檙e going to go all the way to the Supreme Court if we have to," he told reporters outside the courthouse. Bannon cast the case as politically motivated, saying "this is about shutting down the MAGA movement.鈥�
鈥淭here's not a prison built or jail built that will ever shut me up," Bannon said.
of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to sit for a deposition with the Jan. 6 House Committee and the other for refusing to provide documents related to his involvement in Trump鈥檚 efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
Nichols, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, a Republican, had initially allowed him to remain free while he fought his conviction because the judge believed the case raised substantial legal questions. But during a hearing in Washington's federal court, Nichols said the calculus changed after the appeals court panel said all of Bannon鈥檚 challenges lack merit.
鈥淚 do not believe the original basis for my stay exists any longer,鈥� Nichols said.
Bannon can appeal his conviction to the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prosecutor John Crabb told the judge it was 鈥渧ery unlikely鈥� Bannon would succeed in getting his conviction thrown out.
Bannon鈥檚 lawyer at trial argued at trial that the former adviser didn鈥檛 ignore the subpoena but was still engaged in good-faith negotiations with the congressional committee when he was charged.
The defense has said Bannon had been acting on the advice of his attorney at the time, who told him that the subpoena was invalid because the committee would not allow a Trump lawyer in the room and that Bannon could not determine what documents or testimony he could provide because Trump has asserted executive privilege.
Defense lawyer David Schoen told the judge it would be unfair to send Bannon to prison now because he would complete his entire prison sentence before he exhausted his appeals. Schoen said the case raises 鈥渟erious constitutional issues鈥� that need to be examined by the Supreme Court.
鈥淚n this country, we don't send anyone to prison if they believe that they were doing something that complied with the law,鈥� he told reporters.
A second Trump aide, trade adviser , was also convicted of contempt of Congress. He .
Navarro, too, had maintained that he couldn鈥檛 cooperate with because Trump had invoked executive privilege. But courts have rejected that argument, finding Navarro couldn鈥檛 prove Trump had actually invoked it.
The House Jan. 6 committee鈥檚 final report asserted that Trump criminally engaged in a 鈥渕ulti-part conspiracy鈥� to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 election and failed to act to stop from attacking the Capitol, concluding an extraordinary 18-month investigation into the former president and .
Bannon is also facing criminal charges in New York state court alleging along the U.S. southern border. Bannon has pleaded not guilty to money laundering, conspiracy, fraud and other charges, and that trial has been postponed until at least the end of September.
Alanna Durkin Richer, The Associated Press
