The Supreme Court on Monday granted the Trump Justice Department’s request to vacate an appeals court ruling against Steve Bannon, after the Department of Justice told the high court that it wants to dismiss the matter that was brought against the Donald Trump ally during the Biden administration.  

The high court relief doesn’t officially dismiss the case, but it clears a path for that conclusion, as the DOJ has a pending motion in the trial court seeking dismissal. The next step will play out in the lower courts.

Bannon was convicted in 2022 for not complying with the House Jan. 6 select committee. He served a four-month sentence after the justices refused in the summer of 2024 to let him stay free while he appealed. He continued his appeal after serving his time, filing a petition with the justices in October after his appeals court loss. 

The legal issue centered on the government’s burden of proof in contempt cases. Bannon claimed he reasonably believed, based on legal advice, that he didn’t have to respond to the committee’s subpoena. To the extent that he raised an important legal question, it will remain unresolved with Monday’s Supreme Court action.

Notably, the Trump DOJ initially waived its right to respond to Bannon’s petition at the high court, which would have typically led to the court denying it and letting his conviction stand. But in November, the court requested a response from the DOJ — which, in a typical criminal case, would have been a brief opposing Supreme Court review and seeking to uphold the conviction. 

Yet the DOJ instead responded by seeking the bespoke treatment granted by the justices on Monday.

As is typical in such cases, the Supreme Court didn’t issue an opinion to explain why it took the action it did on Monday’s order list, which is a routine document containing the court’s latest announcements on pending appeals. All the court said was: “The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted. The judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for further consideration in light of the pending motion to dismiss the indictment.”

The DOJ didn’t specify why it wants to abandon the case at this point, only that it “has determined in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of this criminal case is in the interests of justice.” In its brief to the justices, the DOJ cited cases stemming from the FIFA corruption scandal in which the government recently sought and received similar high court relief on criminal defendants’ behalf. 

“The government’s decision to dismiss an ill-conceived prosecution even at this late stage is commendable,” Bannon’s lawyers wrote in his final brief to the justices in February.

The post Supreme Court agrees to help Trump DOJ move to dismiss Steve Bannon’s contempt case appeared first on MS NOW.

Author: Source Author

From MS Now.