Justice Department moves to toss Steve Bannon’s conviction tied to Congress’ Jan. 6 investigation

NBC News · Ryan J. Reilly · 2026-11-05 18:41 UTC

The administration “harbors significant doubts” about the trial’s fairness, a top official said in a court filing.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration moved Thursday to vacate the conviction of Steve Bannon on two counts of contempt of Congress in connection with its investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Bannon, a White House chief strategist and senior counselor during President Donald Trump’s first term, served a four-month prison sentence after the conviction in 2022.

The Justice Department wrote in a court filing Thursday that it had determined “dismissal is in the interests of justice because, in an exercise of its prosecutorial discretion, the Executive Branch does not believe that it is appropriate to pursue contempt of Congress charges against a former advisor to the President who did not comply with a subpoena investigating the events of January 6, 2021, based on an asserted belief that he was protected by executive privilege.”

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