Justice Department wants Steve Bannon's contempt conviction overturned
- - Justice Department wants Steve Bannon's contempt conviction overturned
Maureen Groppe and Bart Jansen, USA TODAY February 9, 2026 at 11:32 PM
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WASHINGTON – The Trump administration is seeking to overturn former Trump aide Steve Bannon’s contempt of Congress conviction.
In filings to the district court and Supreme Court, the Justice Department said the government has determined “that dismissal of this criminal case is in the interests of justice.” The filings did not elaborate further.
Bannon defied a congressional subpoena demanding he testify about the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021. President Donald Trump has criticized the prosecution of Bannon and others as political, including the approximately 1,600 people he pardoned for charges related to the attack.
A dismissal of Bannon’s case would avoid the need for Trump to pardon him, too. At the end of his first term as president, Trump pardoned Bannon as he was awaiting trial in Manhattan for a different case: fraud charges tied to a border wall fundraising effort.
AmericaFest” conference this week.
The four-day event marks Turning Point’s first conference since its co-founder, Charlie Kirk, was shot and killed by an assassin’s bullet. See the most memorable images inside the event at Phoenix Convention Center, starting here with Tucker Carlson.
" style=padding-bottom:56%>Notable conservative figures and thousands of GOP faithful gathered in Arizona for Turning Point’s annual “AmericaFest” conference this week.
The four-day event marks Turning Point’s first conference since its co-founder, Charlie Kirk, was shot and killed by an assassin’s bullet. See the most memorable images inside the event at Phoenix Convention Center, starting here with Tucker Carlson.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Tfyx_8.sY8KtN0WRhmDCGQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/2b4313f9e1f83a082e6de471ec08a09a class=caas-img data-headline="Megyn Kelly, Steve Bannon, more GOP leaders at Turning Point summit" data-caption="
Notable conservative figures and thousands of GOP faithful gathered in Arizona for Turning Point’s annual “AmericaFest” conference this week.
The four-day event marks Turning Point’s first conference since its co-founder, Charlie Kirk, was shot and killed by an assassin’s bullet. See the most memorable images inside the event at Phoenix Convention Center, starting here with Tucker Carlson.
">Notable conservative figures and thousands of GOP faithful gathered in Arizona for Turning Point’s annual “AmericaFest” conference this week.
The four-day event marks Turning Point’s first conference since its co-founder, Charlie Kirk, was shot and killed by an assassin’s bullet. See the most memorable images inside the event at Phoenix Convention Center, starting here with Tucker Carlson.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Tfyx_8.sY8KtN0WRhmDCGQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/2b4313f9e1f83a082e6de471ec08a09a class=caas-img>Megyn Kelly waves to the audience during AmericaFest, the first Turning Point USA summit since the death of Charlie Kirk, in Phoenix, Arizona, December 19, 2025.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/RstBXaH_s6gNK2xOMubdfQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjc-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/8b01976d0c17fced2ccd0b88c6e5683e class=caas-img data-headline="Megyn Kelly, Steve Bannon, more GOP leaders at Turning Point summit" data-caption="
Megyn Kelly waves to the audience during AmericaFest, the first Turning Point USA summit since the death of Charlie Kirk, in Phoenix, Arizona, December 19, 2025.
">Megyn Kelly waves to the audience during AmericaFest, the first Turning Point USA summit since the death of Charlie Kirk, in Phoenix, Arizona, December 19, 2025.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/RstBXaH_s6gNK2xOMubdfQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjc-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/8b01976d0c17fced2ccd0b88c6e5683e class=caas-img>Steve Bannon speaks during AmericaFest, the first Turning Point USA summit since the death of Charlie Kirk, in Phoenix, Arizona, December 19, 2025.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/hVg7LhzkgVN.4ktBz.jiWw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/c27da947d62caf5f9013fc1737e0e880 class=caas-img data-headline="Megyn Kelly, Steve Bannon, more GOP leaders at Turning Point summit" data-caption="
Steve Bannon speaks during AmericaFest, the first Turning Point USA summit since the death of Charlie Kirk, in Phoenix, Arizona, December 19, 2025.
">Steve Bannon speaks during AmericaFest, the first Turning Point USA summit since the death of Charlie Kirk, in Phoenix, Arizona, December 19, 2025.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/hVg7LhzkgVN.4ktBz.jiWw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/c27da947d62caf5f9013fc1737e0e880 class=caas-img>
Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro clashed over issues animating the right such as Candace Owens, controversial live-streamer and white supremacist Nick Fuentes; and Israel.
" style=padding-bottom:56%>Tucker Carlson speaks during AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center on Dec. 18, 2025. Conservative commentators Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro clashed over issues animating the right such as Candace Owens, controversial live-streamer and white supremacist Nick Fuentes; and Israel.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/cneEJemYWw9LV9wktx9pZA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04MTg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/e4b52b75e83542547c12cc9825156033 class=caas-img data-headline="Megyn Kelly, Steve Bannon, more GOP leaders at Turning Point summit" data-caption="
Tucker Carlson speaks during AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center on Dec. 18, 2025. Conservative commentators Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro clashed over issues animating the right such as Candace Owens, controversial live-streamer and white supremacist Nick Fuentes; and Israel.
">Tucker Carlson speaks during AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center on Dec. 18, 2025. Conservative commentators Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro clashed over issues animating the right such as Candace Owens, controversial live-streamer and white supremacist Nick Fuentes; and Israel.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/cneEJemYWw9LV9wktx9pZA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04MTg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/e4b52b75e83542547c12cc9825156033 class=caas-img>
1 / 19Megyn Kelly, Steve Bannon, more GOP leaders at Turning Point summit
Notable conservative figures and thousands of GOP faithful gathered in Arizona for Turning Point’s annual “AmericaFest” conference this week.
The four-day event marks Turning Point’s first conference since its co-founder, Charlie Kirk, was shot and killed by an assassin’s bullet. See the most memorable images inside the event at Phoenix Convention Center, starting here with Tucker Carlson.
Bannon has already served his four-month prison sentence for his 2022 conviction for contempt of Congress, after the Supreme Court in 2024 rejected his bid to remain free while he appealed.
Now, Bannon wants the Supreme Court to overturn his conviction.
Responding to Bannon’s appeal, the Justice Department told the Supreme Court it has asked the district court to toss out the conviction. Accordingly, the Supreme Court should send the case back to the district court to consider dismissal, the Justice Department said.
Barbara McQuade, a law professor at the University of Michigan and a former U.S. attorney, said the move sounded political because there was no reason to think an appellate court would overturn the conviction.
“It strikes me as a purely political move,” McQuade told USA TODAY. “The Trump administration continues to use the Department of Justice to reward allies and punish critics. It is a disgusting abuse of the rule of law.”
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to senior staff Steve Bannon during a swearing in ceremony for senior staff at the White House in Washington, DC January 22, 2017.
Bannon said he was relying on his lawyer's advice not to respond to the subpoena from a House committee investigating the attack on the Capitol until another issue was resolved: the matter of whether the former White House aide was protected by Trump's claim of executive privilege. That doctrine allows presidents to keep confidential some executive branch communications.
House lawyers argued that Bannon had thumbed his nose at the committee and ignored the subpoena.
The committee sought to question Bannon, a political strategist for Trump, partly because he told associates from China on Oct. 31, 2020, that Trump would falsely declare victory even if he lost the election and said it would be a “firestorm.”
In a podcast, Bannon said former Vice President Mike Pence “spit the bit,” which meant he was no longer supporting Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The committee described the comment as amplifying the pressure on Pence.
Bannon called Trump at least twice on Jan. 5, 2021, and predicted on a right-wing talk radio show that "all hell is going to break loose tomorrow."
A jury found Bannon guilty of contempt of Congress and an appeals court affirmed the convictions.
Contributing: Aysha Bagchi
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Justice Department wants Steve Bannon's contempt conviction overturned
Source: “AOL Breaking”
