Federal prosecutors on Tuesday asked that former President Donald Trump's ex-adviser Steve Bannon begin his four-month prison sentence for contempt of Congress.
A three-judge panel of D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld Bannon's criminal conviction for defying a subpoena from the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol.
Prosecutors on Tuesday said there is no legal basis for Judge Carl Nichols to continue the stay on Bannon serving his sentence.
"Consequently, there is no longer a 'substantial question of law that is likely to result in a reversal or an order for a new trial,'" prosecutors wrote in their filing, ABC News reported.
Nichols has allowed Bannon to remain free while he pursued his appeal.
Bannon, who was sentenced to four months in prison for contempt in October 2022, told ABC News: "I'm shocked they want to silence the voice of MAGA."
Bannon was convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to sit for a deposition and the other for refusing to provide documents related to his involvement in Trump's actions on Jan. 6.
Bannon initially had argued that his testimony was protected by Trump's claim of executive privilege. But the House panel and the Justice Department contended such a claim was dubious because Trump had fired Bannon from the White House in 2017 and the former adviser was thus a private citizen when he was consulting with the then-president in the run-up to Jan. 6.
Bannon's lawyers argued at trial that he wasn't acting in bad faith, but was trying to avoid running afoul of executive privilege objections Trump had raised. The onetime presidential adviser said he wanted to have a Trump lawyer in the room for his appearance, but the committee wouldn't allow it.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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