Politics

Trump Ally Steve Bannon Files Last-Ditch Emergency Motion To Avoid Prison

(Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

Julianna Frieman Contributor
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Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon reportedly filed a last-ditch emergency motion Tuesday to avoid going to prison.

Bannon’s motion, filed in the U.S. Appeals for the District of Columbia, requests a ruling regarding his appeal by June 18 — just 13 days before he is expected to report to prison, according to Fox News Digital.

Judge Carl J. Nichols granted prosecutors’ request requiring Bannon to serve the four-month sentence he received in Oct. 2022 starting on July 1, Fox News Digital reported. Bannon’s new motion for appeal reportedly rips into the “political realities” of the “War Room” host’s prosecution, emphasizing that he will be unable to advise the Trump campaign while imprisoned until the November election.

“There is also no denying the political realities here. Mr. Bannon is a high-profile political commentator and campaign strategist. He was prosecuted by an administration whose policies are a frequent target of Mr. Bannon’s public statements,” the motion states, according to the outlet. “The government seeks to imprison Mr. Bannon for the four-month period leading up to the November election, when millions of Americans look to him for information on important campaign issues. This would also effectively bar Mr. Bannon from serving as a meaningful advisor in the ongoing national campaign.”

Bannon told Tucker Carlson that he is “not afraid” of going to prison in an interview released late Tuesday. The 70-year-old urged conservatives to “wake up” and “start fighting like you’re in a war” as he railed against his prosecution.

The House of Representatives held Bannon in contempt following a 229-202 vote in Oct. 2021 for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the Democrat-run Jan. 6 Select Committee. He was convicted by a federal jury of two contempt charges in July 2022. (RELATED: Trump Campaign Claims Hunter Biden Verdict ‘Nothing More Than A Distraction’)

Bannon is not the only Trump ally prosecuted for defying a congressional subpoena related to the Jan. 6, 2021 riots. Former Trump aide Peter Navarro was sentenced to four months in jail and ordered to pay a fine of $9,500. Navarro reported to prison on March 19, and Trump told The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in May that he “would absolutely” hire the 74-year-old back if elected president.