Steve Bannon appears likely to have criminal conviction dismissed

US supreme court files brief order vacating lower court ruling that had upheld rightwing media host’s conviction

Steve Bannon, the rightwing media host and ally of Donald Trump, appears likely to have his criminal conviction dismissed.

The US supreme court filed a brief order on Monday that vacated a lower court ruling that had upheld Bannon’s conviction and sent the case back to the US court of appeals for the DC circuit for “further consideration in light of the pending motion to dismiss the indictment”. The Trump administration had moved to dismiss Bannon’s conviction.

Bannon served in the first Trump administration for less than a year as a chief strategist. He has since become a major voice among the “Make America great again” movement, largely through his War Room podcast.

He was convicted by a jury in DC federal court of two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to submit to a subpoena to testify before the US House of Representatives committee that focused on the January 6 insurrection. An appeals court later upheld his conviction and he spent four months in prison in 2024.