The United States Department of Justice, under President Donald Trump, has moved to dismiss the criminal case against former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. Bannon was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress in 2022 for refusing to testify before the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
The motion, filed on Monday, states that the government determined that dismissal is in the interests of justice. Bannon served four months in federal prison in 2024 after the Supreme Court declined to review his sentence, and was released shortly before the 2024 presidential election.
Bannon initially refused to comply with a subpoena from the House select committee, citing executive privilege. He had commented on his radio show the day before the insurrection that “all hell is going to break loose tomorrow.” Federal prosecutors previously argued that Bannon believed he was “above the law.”
The motion, which is unopposed, was filed by US Attorney for Washington DC, Ed Martin, a Trump appointee. It asks US District Judge Carl Nichols to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning prosecutors cannot refile it. This action follows Trump's earlier pardon of over 1,000 rioters charged in connection with the January 6 events.
