Steve Bannon ordered to prison by July 1

Steve Bannon outside federal court — Bannon accused the Justice Department of "shutting down the MAGA movement"

(Image credit: Kent Nishimura / Getty Images)

What happened

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols on Thursday ordered Steve Bannon, Donald Trump's former campaign chair and White House chief strategist, to report to prison by July 1 to serve a four-month sentence after being convicted of contempt of Congress nearly two years ago.

Who said what

Bannon was convicted in July 2022 for "stonewalling a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol," Politico said. Bannon's initial sentence was paused while he appealed, but he "lost the first round of that challenge" last month, The New York Times said, prompting the order from Nichols, a Trump appointee.

Bannon vowed to fight his conviction "all the way to the Supreme Court if we have to," and accused the Justice Department of "shutting down the MAGA movement, shutting down grassroots conservatives, shutting down President Trump."

What next?

Bannon is "unlikely to be able to stave off prison" unless a higher court "steps in to block Nichols' decision," Politico said. He faces separate charges in Manhattan for allegedly defrauding investors in a private wall along the southern U.S. border.

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.