Steve Bannon makes longshot request to Supreme Court to avoid prison

By John Fritze and Tierney Sneed, CNN

(CNN) — Steve Bannon, a conservative podcast host and former strategist for Donald Trump, asked the Supreme Court on Friday to pause his prison sentence while he appeals his conviction for contempt of Congress.

A federal appeals court on Thursday night rejected his bid to delay the start of his sentence.

Bannon’s longshot request comes months after another former Trump adviser, Peter Navarro, failed to receive a similar break from the conservative high court.

A federal judge ruled recently that Bannon must turn himself in by July 1 to begin serving a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress as he appeals his case. Bannon is set to report to the low-security federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, instead of a minimum-security prison camp he had sought, CNN reported this week.

Bannon was convicted by a federal jury two years ago in Washington, DC, for not complying with a subpoena for an interview and documents in the US House’s January 6, 2021, investigation. He has remained a staunch Trump ally and is a vocal supporter of his presidential reelection bid.

In recent days, Bannon has amped up his rhetoric against the Justice Department, telling a conservative gathering in Detroit this month that they would “purge” the department and “take apart” the FBI if Trump won the election.

The Supreme Court has asked prosecutors to respond to Bannon’s emergency application by Wednesday afternoon.

CNN’s Katelyn Polantz contributed to this report.

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