The Justice Department is seeking to dismiss former President Trump adviser Steve Bannon's conviction for refusing to testify about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, legal filings submitted Monday show.
The big picture: The submissions mark the Trump administration's latest effort to unwind prosecutions of the president's allies.
- Bannon was convicted and sentenced in 2022 for defying a subpoena from the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
- He cited executive privilege for failure to turn over documents or sit for a deposition, but Bannon had been a private citizen since leaving the White House in 2017. He served a four-month federal prison sentence in 2024.
Driving the news: Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for D.C. in a Monday filing asked a federal judge to dismiss Bannon's two-count indictment.
- Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the Supreme Court in a separate filing to send Bannon's appeal back to U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who oversaw the case, to dismiss the charges.
- "The government has determined in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of this criminal case is in the interests of justice," Sauer wrote.
What they're saying: "Under the leadership of Attorney General Bondi, this Department will continue to undo the prior administration's weaponization of the justice system," Attorney General Todd Blance said Monday on X.
- Bannon did not immediately respond to Axios' Monday evening request for comment.
Go deeper: Scoop: Bannon quietly making moves toward 2028 run
