Steve Bannon Ordered to Report to Prison for Refusing to Testify About Jan. 6 Riot

Steve Bannon, who served as the chief strategist in Donald Trump's White House, has been ordered to report to prison on July 1 — nearly two years after he was convicted for refusing to comply with a House subpoena.

Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison in October 2022, but ultimately dodged the jail time due to a lengthy appeals process. In May, a federal appeals court unanimously upheld the jury's conviction.

The former Breitbart executive still had hope that he could delay his sentence further while his defense team seeks other routes for appeal, according to CBS News. But on Thursday, June 6, a federal judge decided that in the meantime, the stay on his sentence will be lifted and he will be required to turn himself in.

Bannon was no longer working for the White House at the time of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, which saw Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 Electoral College count.

But the House select committee that investigated Jan. 6 said it had reason to believe that Bannon could provide relevant information on "important activities that led to and informed" the insurrection. The committee cited his comment on Jan. 5, 2021, that "all hell is going to break loose tomorrow."

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When Bannon failed to show up for his deposition with the House select committee and refused to provide them documents, they recommended criminal charges. Soon, the Trump ally was indicted on two federal charges of contempt of Congress, and in July 2022, a jury found Bannon guilty of both counts.

At sentencing the Justice Department recommended six months in prison and a $200,000 fine, but he was instead sentenced to four months behind bars and a $6,500 fine.