Federal prosecutors from the Department of Justice filed a motion on Tuesday asking U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols to order Steve Bannon to report to prison.
In July 2022, Bannon was convicted of two counts of contempt for not complying with a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee.
The sentence was stayed pending the outcome of an appeal, which Bannon lost last week.
BREAKING (ABC News): Federal prosecutors on Tuesday requested the judge overseeing Steve Bannon's criminal contempt of Congress case to order that he begin his four-month prison sentence.
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) May 14, 2024
“Consequently, there is no longer a ‘substantial question of law that is likely to result in a reversal or an order for a new trial,’” the motion read, adding that Bannon has lost his appeal. “Under these circumstances, the Court ‘shall order’ defendant ‘be detained,’ so the stay of sentence must be lifted.”
Judge Nichols gave Bannon's legal team until Thursday to respond to the motion.
Judge Nichols has given Steve Bannon until Thursday to respond to the DOJ's request for him to begin serving him prison sentence now that the D.C. Circuit has upheld his conviction. https://t.co/pGFgvzzQpu pic.twitter.com/1QDCB9gFkH
— Jordan Fischer (@JordanOnRecord) May 14, 2024
"I'm shocked they want to silence the voice of MAGA," Bannon told ABC News in response to the motion.
“The Court “shall order” defendant “be detained,” 18 U.S.C. § 3143(b)(1), so the stay of sentence must be lifted”
Justice Dept asks court to lift its hold on Steve Bannon’s 4-month prison sentence (now that Bannon’s appeal of Contempt Of Congress conviction failed)…
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) May 14, 2024
Bannon was the first political figure to be found guilty of contempt of Congress since Attorney General Richard Kleindienst and Watergate burglar G. Gordon Liddy in 1974.