The Justice Department filed a renewed court motion urging a federal judge to throw out Steve Bannon's criminal contempt conviction for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
Bannon was convicted in 2022 on two counts of contempt of Congress and served a four-month prison sentence in 2024. In the new filing, prosecutors stated that dropping the case represents a proper exercise of prosecutorial discretion. The department maintained that it "does not believe that it is appropriate to pursue contempt of Congress charges against a former advisor to the President who did not comply with a subpoena" based on executive privilege.
Trial Fairness and Executive Privilege
In the court motion, the Justice Department declared that "the United States harbors significant doubts about the fairness of Defendant's trial and whether D.C. Circuit precedent improperly foreclosed Defendant from raising a defense." The department stated that precedent had prevented Bannon from arguing he did not willfully break the law because of his reliance on executive privilege, concluding that "the United States no longer wishes to pursue this prosecution."
The filing noted President Donald Trump's concerns regarding previous Jan. 6 prosecutions, pointing to Trump's pardons and commutations for defendants charged in connection with the Capitol attack. Prosecutors noted that "it is inconsistent with this Administration's enforcement priorities to seek affirmance of a criminal conviction of a former advisor to President Trump" under these conditions. Bannon's defense team did not oppose the government's motion to vacate the conviction.
Procedural Background and Judge Nichols
Deputy Associate Attorney General Michael Weisbuch signed the government's submission. Acting Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter previously served as Bannon's defense counsel, and his name was omitted from the filing.
The renewed submission follows earlier procedural hurdles before U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols. In February 2026, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro submitted a dismissal request under prosecutorial discretion without adding detailed explanation. Nichols rejected that motion in August 2026, finding that prosecutors had failed to provide adequate justification for dropping the case. However, the Supreme Court vacated an appellate ruling that had upheld Bannon's conviction and sent the case back to Nichols.
The matter now returns to Nichols, who previously indicated that prosecutors could submit a renewed dismissal request supported by adequate legal grounds.
