00:00New developments this morning in the case of Steve Bannon.
00:06The Justice Department is moving to dismiss the criminal case that sent him to prison
00:10for defying a subpoena from the House January 6th Committee
00:14and to wipe his conviction off the books entirely.
00:18In a filing to a federal judge, the Department of Justice said it's decided to drop the case
00:22in, quote, the interests of justice.
00:24The motion was signed by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, and it seeks a dismissal with prejudice.
00:31That means the case could never be brought again.
00:34A jury convicted Bannon in 2022 after he refused to testify or turn over documents
00:39to congressional investigators who were probing the lead-up to the Capitol attack.
00:44You may remember he served about four months in prison in 2024.
00:47But his appeal was still pending at the Supreme Court when the Justice Department stepped in on Monday.
00:52It asked the justices to vacate the ruling that upheld his conviction
00:57and send the case back to the lower court so it can be dismissed.
01:01If the justices agree, the conviction would be erased and the appeal would effectively end.
01:06The move comes as Bannon is also facing renewed scrutiny over his past ties to Jeffrey Epstein
01:11following the recent release of records in the investigation.
01:14It also lands amid a broader partisan fight over contempt of Congress,
01:18with Republicans recently moving to hold Bill and Hillary Clinton in contempt
01:23in a separate Epstein-related inquiry before both Clintons agreed to testify later this month.
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