In a recent court filing, federal prosecutors urged the Supreme Court to reject former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon's appeal to remain out of prison, paving the way for him to begin serving his four-month sentence for contempt of Congress. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar cited a similar case involving former Trump adviser Peter Navarro, who had also defied subpoenas from the House Jan. 6 committee and was subsequently sentenced to four months in federal prison. Navarro had completed his sentence after surrendering in March.

Bannon's eleventh-hour bid to stay out of prison and pursue additional appeals prompted Wednesday's response from federal prosecutors. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols had previously ordered Bannon to report to prison by the following Monday, after an intense courtroom hearing. Despite Bannon's request to the federal appeals court to suspend his sentence during further appeals, the court denied it, leaving only the Supreme Court with the power to halt the sentence. As a result, the high court asked the Justice Department to provide its perspective on the matter.

Bannon's conviction on two counts of contempt of Congress had taken place in July 2022, and his four-month prison sentence was issued in October the same year. The sentence had been temporarily stayed while appeals were underway. In May, a panel of federal appellate judges upheld Bannon's conviction, leading federal prosecutors to urge Judge Nichols to order Bannon's imprisonment, arguing that there was no legal basis for a further stay.

In his own filing to the Supreme Court, Bannon claimed that he had acted in good faith, relying on his attorney's advice to disregard the House Jan. 6 committee's subpoena, based on a potential assertion of executive privilege. However, prosecutors countered this argument by noting that Bannon had already left the White House before the period of interest to the committee - namely, the attempts by Trump to overturn the 2020 presidential election results and the subsequent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

As the Supreme Court deliberates Bannon's appeal, the possibility looms that he may begin serving his prison sentence, putting an end to a years-long legal battle.