A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the conviction of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon on contempt of Congress charges, rejecting his arguments that he did not need to comply with subpoenas from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Bannon, who was convicted on two contempt charges in 2022, had argued in his appeal that his attorney advised him to not comply with the panel because executive privilege, which allows a president to keep secret conversations with close advisers, would apply to the congressional subpoena.
In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit wrote that allowing Bannon to jettison the conviction because he relied on the advice of his attorney “would undermine the statute’s function,” which is meant to allow Congress to enforce its investigative powers.
