Supreme Court returns Bannon contempt of Congress case to lower court

Michael Macagnone, CQ-Roll Call on Apr 6, 2026

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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court sent Stephen Bannon’s contempt of Congress conviction back to lower courts Monday to address the Trump administration’s attempt to wipe out the case against the president’s former adviser.

Bannon had appealed his conviction to the justices after both a federal trial judge and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the rare conviction for contempt of Congress. A jury convicted Bannon in 2022 for his refusal to testify and provide documents to the House select panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

While Bannon’s case was pending before the Supreme Court, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro in the District of Columbia sought to dismiss the indictment in a way that meant it could not be brought again.

In a brief order on Monday, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the D.C. Circuit to address the attempt to jettison the case. Bannon already has served a four-month prison term.

In a filing at the Supreme Court, Solicitor General Todd Blanche had called the subpoena used as the basis of the conviction “improper” and said the agency would “undo the prior administration’s weaponization of the justice system.”

Blanche’s filing echoed arguments made by Bannon and other critics of the select panel, including its lack of a full complement of Republican members.

Bannon refused to testify or provide documents to the panel, but the committee used video clips and other records showing that Bannon said Donald Trump intended to declare victory in the 2020 presidential election regardless of the results on election night. After Bannon’s refusal to testify, the House voted to hold him and several other recalcitrant witnesses in contempt.

Aside from challenging the legitimacy of the committee, Bannon argued at the Supreme Court that he had relied on legal advice that he did not have to testify.

A second recalcitrant witness of the House select panel, Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro, was also convicted for contempt and served four months in prison.

Navarro was convicted in 2023 on a similar set of charges. While the Trump administration has not sought to dismiss Navarro’s case, it did refuse to defend the conviction at the D.C. Circuit, which led to a one-sided oral argument last year.

The case is Stephen Bannon v. United States.