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Stephen Bannon likely headed to jail after Biden and Obama judges deny his emergency motion for release
A jury in the nation's predominantly Democratic capital convicted former Trump adviser and "War Room" host Stephen K. Bannon in 2022 on a misdemeanor contempt of Congress charge for failing to comply with a subpoena from the partisan House Jan. 6 committee.
Earlier this month, a federal judge ordered Bannon to report to jail by July 1.
Bannon
told reporters outside the courthouse that "all of this is about one thing. This is about shutting down the MAGA movement, shutting down grassroots conservatives, shutting down President Trump."
He also made abundantly clear that Attorney General Merrick Garland and the rest of the Biden Department of Justice were "not going to shut up Trump. They're not going to shut up Navarro. They're not going to shut up Bannon. And they're certainly not going to shut up MAGA!"
Bannon's attorneys filed an emergency motion to keep him out of prison as he continued to appeal the conviction on the ground that he "reasonably believed — based on the advice of counsel — that he did not have to respond [to the subpoena]" and that for a contempt conviction, it must be demonstrated he willfully acted in bad faith.
'Bannon should not go to prison before the Supreme Court considers his forthcoming petition for certiorari.'
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
denied the motion Thursday in a 2-1 vote, noting that Bannon's "ground for requesting release does not warrant a departure from the general rule that a defendant 'shall ... be detained' following conviction and imposition of a sentence of imprisonment."
The two judges in the majority were Cornelia Pillard, a progressive jurist
nominated by former Democratic President Barack Obama in 2013, and Bradley Garcia, nominated to the court by Democratic President Joe Biden in 2022.
Trump-nominated Judge Justin Walker, who voted against denying the emergency motion, indicated in his dissenting opinion that the main line of argumentation in Bannon's appeal might succeed before the Supreme Court, which is not bound by the application of the decision in Licavoli v. United States.
The Democrat-selected majority indicated that in
Licavoli, the proof of a summoned witness' intentional default in response to a congressional subpoena establishes the requisite willfulness.
"Because the Supreme Court is not bound by
Licavoli, because Licavoli's interpretation of 'willfully' is a close question, and because that question may well be material, Bannon should not go to prison before the Supreme Court considers his forthcoming petition for certiorari," concluded Walker.
Bannon's legal team, which has
reportedly argued that the Biden DOJ is ostensibly attempting to prevent Bannon from helping with the Trump campaign and speaking out on issues of importance, have filed an emergency stay application in the U.S. Supreme Court.
While there is uncertainty over whether Bannon will ultimately spend four months inside a prison cell for a misdemeanor charge, it's clear that Democratic officials similarly convicted suffer no such consequences.
House Republicans
voted to hold Garland in contempt of Congress earlier this month for defying subpoenas for audio recordings of Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur — an interview from which Hur, whose report indicated Biden "willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice-presidency when he was a private citizen," concluded the Democratic president might be too decrepit for a jury to convict.
Unlike in Bannon's case, the Biden Department of Justice
revealed on June 14 that it would no longer bother prosecuting Garland.
Eric Holder, Obama's attorney general, was
held in contempt of Congress in an overwhelming 255-67 vote in 2012 for refusing to turn over documents related to the Fast and Furious scandal.
The Obama DOJ quickly rewarded Holder for keeping the Democratic president's documents from the American people's elected representatives by refusing to prosecute.
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