Steve Bannon, a former Trump White House official, has his appeal for a conviction for contempt of Congress denied Friday by a federal appeals court.
Former White House official Steve Bannon’s appeal of his contempt of Congress conviction was denied Friday, meaning he will still have to serve jail time for ignoring a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
In a 20-page opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, a three-body panel, said granting Bannon’s appeal would « hamstring Congress’s investigatory authority. »
Bannon claimed he acted on the advice of his legal team and did not intend to break the law. Judge Bradley Garcia wrote that acting on « advice of counsel » defense is « no defense at all. »
« As both this court and the Supreme Court have repeatedly explained, a contrary rule would contravene the text of the contempt statute and hamstring Congress’s investigatory authority, » Garcia wrote. « Because we have no basis to depart from that binding precedent, and because none of Bannon’s other challenges to his convictions have merit, we affirm.
