U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro on Monday moved to permanently drop the contempt of Congress case against longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon, marking a major reversal in one of the most politically charged prosecutions to emerge from the January 6 investigations.
According to The Post Millennial, Pirro signed a motion to dismiss the indictment with prejudice, a legal designation that bars the government from bringing the same charges again and effectively shuts the door on further prosecution in this matter.
The filing stated, Pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 48(a), the United States of America, by and through the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, respectfully moves this Court to dismiss with prejudice the above captioned case against Defendant Stephen K. Bannon," signaling a decisive retreat from a case that had been championed by Democrats and the January 6 Committee.
In the motion, prosecutors acknowledged that, The government has determined in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of this criminal case is in the interests of justice. Defendant Bannon does not oppose this motion," a notable admission given the Biden Justice Departments aggressive posture toward Trump allies over the past several years. Bannon had been convicted for refusing to comply with a subpoena issued by the now-defunct January 6 Committee, a panel established under President Joe Biden and widely criticized by conservatives as a partisan vehicle to target political opponents.
The case had been advancing toward potential review by the Supreme Court, raising the prospect of a landmark ruling on congressional subpoena power and executive privilege. Instead, the governments move to dismiss with prejudice all but guarantees the high court will not weigh in, leaving serious constitutional questions unresolved while sparing the Justice Department a possible rebuke.
Bannon had previously petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn his contempt of Congress conviction, arguing that his role as an advisor to President Donald Trump in the days before January 6 placed his communications under executive privilege. He ultimately served four months in federal prison at Danbury in Connecticut, punishment many on the right viewed as emblematic of a two-tiered justice system that pursues Trump supporters while ignoring left-wing abuses.
Upon his release in the week leading up to the 2024 election, Bannon returned to his War Room program and declared that the four months in federal prison, not only didn't break me, it empowered me. I am more energized and more focused than I've ever been in my entire life, and I can see clearly just like in 2016 and in 2020 exactly what's going on here and what we have to do to defeat it.
With the Justice Department now retreating from a case it once touted, questions remain about why this prosecution was brought so aggressively in the first placeand whether similar politically driven cases against conservatives will face the same reckoning.
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