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Justice Department Moves to Vacate Steve Bannon’s Jan. 6 Contempt Conviction

The department asked the Supreme Court to return the case to the trial court for a Rule 48(a) dismissal with prejudice.

Overview

  • U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro filed an unopposed motion in D.C. federal court to vacate the judgment and dismiss Bannon’s indictment with prejudice, citing the interests of justice.
  • Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the Supreme Court to vacate the D.C. Circuit’s decision upholding the conviction and remand to enable the dismissal request.
  • Bannon was convicted in 2022 of two counts of contempt of Congress for defying the House Jan. 6 committee subpoena and served about four months in prison in 2024 after the D.C. Circuit affirmed the verdict.
  • Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the select committee was improperly constituted and its subpoena improper, a rationale the DOJ cited in explaining the reversal.
  • If Judge Carl Nichols grants the motion, the conviction would be erased, the charges could not be refiled, and Bannon’s pending Supreme Court appeal would effectively end.