The Justice Department has formally requested that a federal judge erase Steve Bannon's contempt of Congress conviction citing broad prosecutorial discretion and the interests of justice. Bannon's defense team fully supports the dismissal, mirroring previous uncontested government moves to void convictions for roughly a dozen far-right leaders. Legal experts warn that these unopposed requests undermine the standard adversarial legal process for allies of President Trump. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who presided over Bannon's 2022 trial, must now decide whether to grant the motion without hearing an opposing party.
Key points
The government's uncontested requests leave federal judges without an opposing party to d…: The government's uncontested requests leave federal judges without an opposing party to defend previously secured jury convictions.
The Justice Department is citing broad prosecutorial discretion regarding resource alloca…: The Justice Department is citing broad prosecutorial discretion regarding resource allocation to justify abandoning contempt charges against political allies.
Judges have previously granted dismissals in seditious conspiracy cases reluctantly witho…: Judges have previously granted dismissals in seditious conspiracy cases reluctantly without appointing outside lawyers to argue against the government.
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The Biden-era Justice Department portrayed the contempt of Congress case against Steve Bannon as open and shut.
Bannon declined to cooperate with the House committee that investigated the siege on the U.S. Capitol, flouting a subpoena and refusing to show up for an interview. A trial jury in Washington, D.C., deliberated for less than three hours before delivering a guilty verdict. A federal appeals court upheld that verdict.
Now, four years later, the DOJ is asking a court to drop the case and erase the conviction "in the interests of justice." Bannon's lawyers do not oppose the move.
Legal experts said it follows a pattern where the Justice Department is helping to wipe the slate clean for allies of President Trump—with no one defending the cases, and without courts hearing arguments to the contrary. That violates the U.S. legal system's tradition of hearing views from opposing parties and comes as the Justice Department has also pursued investigations of Trump's perceived enemies.
"No adversity remains in this serious and high-profile criminal matter between, on the one hand, the U.S. Department of…
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