Supreme Court Vacates Appeals Court Ruling, Allowing Justice Department to Seek Dismissal of Steve Bannon's Contempt of Congress Conviction

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 6, 2026, issued an unsigned order vacating a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that had upheld Steve Bannon's 2022 conviction for contempt of Congress, clearing the way for a federal district court to consider the Justice Department's request to dismiss the case in the 'interests of justice,' according to the court's docket and a Justice Department filing from February 2026.

Bannon, a former White House chief strategist under President Donald Trump from January 2017 until his departure in August 2017, was subpoenaed on October 14, 2021, by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, court records show. Bannon's attorneys argued in filings that he relied on advice from counsel and Trump's invocation of executive privilege, though the committee noted Bannon had been out of the White House for over three years by the time of the subpoena and lacked firsthand knowledge of events after his tenure, per committee transcripts released in 2022.

Bannon did not appear for a deposition scheduled for October 2021 or produce documents by the deadline, leading the committee to refer contempt charges to the Justice Department on October 21, 2021. A federal grand jury indicted Bannon on two counts of contempt of Congress on November 12, 2021. Following a trial in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, a jury convicted him on July 22, 2022, as reported by the court's docket and contemporaneous Associated Press coverage.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols sentenced Bannon on October 21, 2022, to four months in prison, a $6,500 fine, and 24 months of probation, according to sentencing documents. Bannon remained free pending appeal after the D.C. Circuit denied his request for release in November 2022. The D.C. Circuit upheld the conviction in a 2-1 decision on May 10, 2024, with Judge Karen Henderson dissenting on grounds that the district court erred in instructing the jury on willful noncompliance, per the appellate opinion.

Bannon reported to FCI Danbury in Connecticut on July 1, 2024, to begin his sentence and was released on October 29, 2024, after serving four months, as confirmed by Bureau of Prisons records and photographs from the facility. The Supreme Court denied Bannon's emergency application to further delay reporting in June 2024, according to SCOTUSblog.

Under the Biden administration, the Justice Department defended the conviction before the Supreme Court, arguing in 2024 filings that Bannon had acted with 'total noncompliance,' per court papers cited by CNN on April 6, 2026. Following Trump's inauguration for a second term on January 20, 2025, the Justice Department shifted course. In a February 2026 motion, Solicitor General D. John Sauer requested the Supreme Court vacate the D.C. Circuit's ruling and remand the case, stating the prosecution was no longer in the 'interests of justice,' according to the filing quoted in The New York Times on April 6, 2026.

The Supreme Court's April 6 order, issued unanimously without dissents or noted recitals, stated: 'The judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is vacated, and the case is remanded to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for further proceedings consistent with this order,' per the court's website. Legal experts described it as a routine procedural step on the shadow docket, not a merits ruling. Stanford Law Professor Robert Weisberg told The Washington Post on April 7, 2026, that the court was acting as a 'supervisory matter' to clear cases the prosecution no longer wishes to pursue.

Bannon's attorney, per a statement to Fox News on April 7, 2026, welcomed the order as removing a 'key legal obstacle.' A spokesperson for the House January 6 committee, which disbanded in 2023, had no immediate comment, according to NPR reporting. The dismissal, if granted by District Judge Nichols, would be symbolic, as Bannon has completed his sentence and paid his fine, but it would remove the conviction from his record, per analyses in The Associated Press on April 6, 2026.

This development follows Trump's January 2025 blanket pardon of over 1,500 individuals charged or convicted in connection with January 6 events, as announced by the White House, though contempt convictions like Bannon's were ineligible for pardon due to their congressional nature, per constitutional scholars cited by Reuters. Separately, Bannon pleaded guilty in New York state court in 2023 to fraud charges related to a border wall fundraising effort, avoiding jail time under a plea deal, as reported by The Associated Press; that conviction remains unaffected.

Critics, including former committee member Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), argued in a 2024 book that Bannon's noncompliance hindered the probe, but Bannon maintained in his 'War Room' podcast on April 7, 2026, that he acted properly on privilege grounds. The Justice Department under Attorney General Pam Bondi, prior to her reported removal in early April 2026 per CNN, had pursued several January 6-related cases, though numbers dwindled amid personnel changes, according to a Government Accountability Office review cited by The Washington Post.

No timeline was given for the district court's action, but legal observers expect prompt dismissal given the DOJ's motion, per SCOTUSblog analysis on April 7, 2026. The case underscores tensions over executive privilege in congressional probes, a dispute unresolved by the Supreme Court in related rulings like Trump v. Mazars (2020), which remanded without clear guidelines.