DC Circuit Upholds Bannon Contempt Conviction
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld Steve Bannon’s conviction for contempt of Congress on Friday, rejecting the Trump confidante’s argument that he didn’t respond to a subpoena on the advice of his attorney.
Bannon, a key player in former President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, later served as chief strategist and senior counselor to the president during the early months of the administration.
He ran afoul of Congress four years later when he refused to comply with a subpoena issued by the Select Committee on the Jan. 6 Attack, the Democrat-led House committee investigating the siege on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters intent on preventing the certification of the results of the 2020 election.
The subpoena required him to appear and produce documents to the panel in early October 2021 and to appear for a deposition a week later. Bannon did neither.
He was subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury on two criminal charges of contempt of Congress and was convicted on both counts at the conclusion of a jury trial in July 2022.
Bannon was later sentenced to four months in prison and a $6,500 fine and promptly filed an appeal in which he claimed he could not be convicted of “willfully” ignoring the subpoena because his attorney told him not to comply.
His attorney, David Schoen, doubled down on that contention at the time, telling reporters “You cannot find another crime in which, misdemeanor or felony, in which a person is convicted without believing or knowing or having reason to believe he or she did anything wrong.”
Both Schoen and Bannon predicted his conviction would be overturned.
The D.C. Circuit did not fulfill that prediction.
Writing for the three-judge appellate panel on Friday, U.S. Circuit Judge Brad Garcia said, “It is undisputed that the first time Bannon raised these arguments was in district court, long after his deadline for responding to the subpoena had passed.”
“A witness cannot defend against a contempt of Congress charge based on an affirmative defense that they were able, but failed, to raise at the time they were ordered to produce documents or appear,” Garcia said.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and at https://twitter.com/DanMcCue
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