Supreme Court Rejects Bannon’s Appeal to Delay Prison Sentence

Stephen K. Bannon, the longtime ally of former President Donald J. Trump, will have to report to federal prison on Monday after the Supreme Court rejected his final effort to stave off a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress.

In a single-sentence decision issued on Friday, the court rejected Mr. Bannon’s request to remain free while he challenges his conviction on charges of defying a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Mr. Bannon had filed a last-ditch petition to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. last week, asking for permission to hold off on surrendering to the authorities.

In July 2022, Mr. Bannon was found guilty at a trial in Washington of ignoring the subpoena, which sought information about his role in the events of Jan. 6. Even though he was sentenced to four months in prison, he was initially allowed to remain free while he pursued a lengthy appeals process.

Last month, however, a federal appeals court upheld his contempt conviction and within a few weeks the judge overseeing his case, Carl J. Nichols, said he would have to start serving his time.

In their petition to Justice Roberts, Mr. Bannon’s lawyers said that if he was forced to report to prison next week, he would almost certainly serve his entire sentence before he could ask the full Supreme Court to hear his appeal of his guilty verdict. The court’s current term ends on Monday and Mr. Bannon is not expected to be released until just before the election in November.

CNN reported this month that Mr. Bannon would serve his sentence at a low-security federal prison in Danbury, Conn. A lawyer for Mr. Bannon did not respond to requests for comment.