Bannon sentence delayed amid appeal 

Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon will not have to serve a four-month prison sentence handed to him for defying a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol while he appeals the conviction. 

The former Trump adviser was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress after defying the Jan. 6 committee’s subpoena.

He was sentenced to four months in prison and slapped with a $6,500 fine.  

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols at the sentencing hearing late last month said that Bannon had “expressed no remorse for his actions” but ultimately agreed to put the prison sentence on pause during appeal. The stay was formally ordered in a filing Monday.  

Bannon isn’t a flight risk, Nichols said in the filing, and his appeal “is not taken for the purpose of delay but rather raises a substantial question of law that is likely to result in a reversal or an order for a new trial.”

The stay means Bannon will serve out his prison sentence only if higher courts uphold his conviction on the two misdemeanor counts.

Bannon had refused to comply with the Jan. 6 committee’s calls to testify and provide documents, citing executive privilege concerns related to his work with former President Trump.

Shortly before his trial, Bannon’s legal team appeared to reverse and say he was open to testifying, but the proceedings continued.

Federal prosecutors argued at trial that Bannon “chose allegiance to Donald Trump over compliance with the law” in deciding to defy the subpoena.