Steve Bannon's prison term for contempt of Congress and his fraud plea

In June 2022, a federal judge refused to dismiss the charges,^[14] and his lawyers sought a delay, citing publicity from the January 6 committee's hearings.^[15] On the eve of trial he said he was now willing to testify to the committee,^[16] but the judge would not delay the trial,^[17] and in July a jury convicted him.^[1] In October he was sentenced to four months in prison.^[18]

A separate fraud case ran in New York. In September 2022, Bannon surrendered there on state charges that he had duped donors who gave to an effort called We Build the Wall,^[19][20] and he pleaded not guilty.^[21] Two of his associates, Brian Kolfage and Andrew Badolato, were sentenced to prison for fraud over the effort in April 2023.^[22] Bannon pleaded guilty in February 2025 and avoided jail time, while calling the case a "political persecution."^[3]

His contempt conviction held on appeal. An appeals court upheld it in May 2024,^[23] he was ordered to report to prison by July 1,^[24] and the Supreme Court rejected his bid to stay out.^[25] He was released one week before the 2024 election.^[2] In February 2026 the Justice Department moved to dismiss his case,^[4] and in April the Supreme Court issued an order expected to lead to the dismissal of his conviction,^[26] though in August a federal judge refused, for now, to erase it.^[27]