U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols denied the Justice Department’s effort to dismiss the contempt of Congress indictment underlying Steve Bannon’s 2022 conviction, saying prosecutors failed to explain why they wanted the case dismissed but could submit another request.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
A federal judge has rejected the Justice Department’s attempt to dismiss the indictment that led to Steve Bannon’s contempt of Congress conviction, ruling that prosecutors did not adequately explain why they wanted the case thrown out.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who presided over Bannon’s trial, issued the decision Aug. 26 while leaving the Trump administration free to return with a more detailed request.
“The Government’s motion does not explain its motivations for seeking dismissal of the indictment,” Nichols wrote in his ruling.
Nichols did not permanently foreclose dismissal.
He said the government is “free to submit a renewed motion,” meaning the Justice Department could again ask the court to dispose of the case if prosecutors provide additional justification.
Both Bannon and the Trump administration support having the case dismissed.
Bannon, a former White House strategist and adviser to President Donald Trump during his first administration, was convicted by a federal jury in Washington in 2022 on two counts of contempt of Congress.
The charges stemmed from Bannon’s refusal to provide documents or testimony to the Democratic-led House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.
Congress was meeting that day to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. Joe Biden was subsequently inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2021.
Bannon maintained that his refusal to comply with the committee’s subpoenas was based on unresolved questions involving executive privilege rather than an intentional effort to violate the law.
“Mr. Bannon believed his actions were in compliance with the law,” his attorneys said in a filing to the Supreme Court.
His lawyers said Bannon’s representatives had advised him not to comply with the subpoenas until questions surrounding executive privilege — the doctrine allowing presidents in certain circumstances to withhold information from other branches of government — had been resolved.
A jury nevertheless convicted Bannon on both contempt counts.
His conviction made him the first person since the 1980s to be found guilty of contempt of Congress.
Bannon was sentenced in 2022 and ultimately served four months in federal prison in 2024.
He has repeatedly argued that the House investigation and the subsequent prosecution brought by the Biden administration were politically motivated.
Nichols’ latest ruling does not address the broader merits of Bannon’s claims about the prosecution or determine that the indictment must remain in place permanently.
Instead, the judge focused on the Justice Department’s failure to provide a sufficient explanation for its current request.
That leaves the case in an unusual position: the administration and Bannon both want the indictment dismissed, but the court has declined to grant that relief based on the motion presently before it.
The Justice Department can now decide whether to file another motion explaining in greater detail why it believes dismissal is warranted.
Until then, Nichols’ Aug. 26 order leaves the indictment underlying Bannon’s 2022 contempt conviction intact.
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