Steve Bannon Says He Didn’t Mean To Show Contempt, Seeks Early Release

Steve Bannon has asked a judge to release him from prison while he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction.

Bannon, a conservative podcaster and former Donald Trump White House chief strategist, was sentenced to four months in prison in October 2022 after he was found guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress.

Despite repeated warnings, Bannon failed to respond to a subpoena issued to him by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

He began his sentence on July 1 at a federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut.

Newsweek sought email comment from Bannon’s attorney on Friday.

Bannon, 70, is seeking either to be released on bail or to be placed on supervised release, according to a filing on Thursday by his attorney, Trent McCotter.

“If the Court does not reimpose bail pending appeal, Mr. Bannon respectfully requests that the Court reduce his sentence (even a few days per conviction would suffice) and impose a period of supervised release (again, even a few days per conviction would suffice) so he can be eligible to utilize First Step Act credits,” the filing states.

According to the United States Sentencing Commission, the First Step Act, which was signed into law by Donald Trump when he was president, “created a system in which some incarcerated individuals can earn time credits for participating in recidivism reduction programming or productive activities. Time credits can later be applied towards early release from secure custody.”

McCotter wrote that Bannon should be released because he has a strong chance of overturning his conviction.

That’s based on an argument that Bannon was relying on the advice of his previous lawyer when he didn’t reply to a demand to appear before Congress.

He stated that Bannon lacked the intention or “mens rea” to show contempt to Congress.

McCotter said that a contempt of Congress conviction requires a “willfulness” by the defendant.

In a previous filing detailing the argument, he said that Bannon could not have wilfully shown contempt for Congress because he had relied on the advice of his previous attorney in “good faith.”

McCotter pointed out that the Washington D.C Circuit appeal court is considering this legal argument and whether to revisit the 1961 case of Licavoli v. U.S, in which it was decided that a defendant cannot claim he was relying on an attorney’s advice in answer to a contempt of Congress charge.

“The D.C. Circuit promptly called for the government to submit a response on ‘the meaning of ‘willfully’ and whether we should revisit Licavoli v. United States,'” he wrote. “Calling for a response is rare—the D.C. Circuit has done so in only seven other cases (two of which are related) during the entirety of 2024. This alone signals the substantiality of the mens rea issue.”

That appeal court order was made on July 22.