U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro asked a federal court to dismiss the indictment against podcaster and former adviser to President Donald Trump, Steve Bannon.
Bannon spent four months in jail after Democrats in Congress held him in contempt for refusing to testify about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol building. Pirro’s request is aimed at removing the conviction from Bannon’s record, according to Politico.
In a motion signed by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro — and without the signature of any career prosecutors — the Justice Department asked U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols to dismiss the two-count indictment that DOJ brought against Bannon more than four years ago. Nichols, a Trump appointee, presided over a week-long jury trial of Bannon in 2022 that resulted in his conviction on criminal contempt charges.
Federal prosecutors brought those charges in November 2021 after the Democratic-led House voted to hold Bannon in contempt. The Jan. 6 select committee, convened that year by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, had subpoenaed Bannon to describe his contacts with key organizers of the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the attack on the Capitol that day. They also hoped to learn details about his contacts with President Donald Trump in his effort to subvert the results of the 2020 election.
The end of the case is, in some ways, symbolic. Bannon already served a four-month prison sentence in 2024 for his conviction on the charges. But he has appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court, which was awaiting a response from the Justice Department before Monday’s move by Pirro. If Nichols grants the motion to dismiss, it would likely end the pending Supreme Court case and erase Bannon’s jury conviction.
Solicitor General John Sauer confirmed this goal in a brief filing to the justices Monday.
“The government has determined in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of this criminal case is in the interests of justice,” Sauer wrote, asking the justices to effectively erase lower-court rulings that upheld Bannon’s conviction.
Trump adviser Peter Navarro was similarly tried and convicted for defying the Jan. 6 committee, and is also appealing his conviction. Navarro has said he wants to pursue that fight rather than seek clemency from Trump. Like Bannon, Navarro spent four months in prison.
Jeanine Pirro has signed a DOJ motion to dismiss with prejudice Steve Bannon’s contempt of Congress indictment for defying the original J6 committee subpoena.
— Dominic Box | J6 Political Prisoner 🇺🇸 (@DomFreePress) February 9, 2026
The filing cites prosecutorial discretion as serving “the interests of justice,” with Bannon not opposing. pic.twitter.com/lsyY5IwXxG
Bannon was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress in July 2022 after a federal jury found that he refused to provide documents or appear for a deposition after the Democrat’s House Select Jan. 6 committee served him with a subpoena.
The court sentenced him to four months in jail and a $6,500 fine for what the judge described as a deliberate defiance of a congressional inquiry into an issue of “significant national interest.”
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Bannon’s conviction. Rejecting his argument that he relied on the advice of his lawyer.
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