The Trump administration's Justice Department on Monday moved to dismiss the criminal contempt conviction of Steve Bannon, the former White House strategist who was found guilty in 2022 of defying subpoenas from the House committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. The motion represents the latest — and perhaps most brazen — step in the administration's systematic effort to dismantle the legal legacy of the insurrection investigation.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., filed an unopposed motion asking U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols to dismiss the case with prejudice, according to CNN and the Guardian. If granted, the dismissal would permanently bar prosecutors from ever refiling the charges.

"The government has determined in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of this criminal case is in the interests of justice," Pirro wrote in the filing.

A Conviction Wiped Clean

Bannon was convicted by a jury in Washington on two counts of contempt of Congress after he refused to produce documents or appear for testimony before the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol attack. The committee had pointed to Bannon's extensive contacts with then-President Trump in the days leading up to January 6, his presence in the so-called "war room" at the Willard Hotel the night before the riot, and his now-infamous podcast prediction that "all hell" was going to "break loose."

A federal appeals court upheld the conviction, and Bannon served a four-month prison sentence in 2024 before being released shortly ahead of the presidential election. He had continued to challenge the verdict, with the case pending before the Supreme Court at the time of Monday's filing.

The Justice Department simultaneously asked the Supreme Court to vacate the appeals court's judgment, according to multiple reports.

Part of a Broader Pattern

The Bannon dismissal does not exist in isolation. Shortly after returning to office, President Trump pardoned more than 1,000 individuals convicted of crimes related to the Capitol riot. He has pushed congressional allies to re-examine the work of the January 6 committee, and his administration has taken steps to recast the events of that day.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche celebrated the filing on X, writing: "Under the leadership of Attorney General Bondi, this Department will continue to undo the prior administration's weaponization of the justice system."

Bannon is one of two former Trump aides prosecuted for defying the committee. Peter Navarro, a former White House trade adviser, was convicted in 2023 on similar charges and also served prison time. It remains unclear whether the DOJ will seek to dismiss Navarro's case as well.

The Epstein Complication

The timing of the dismissal is notable. Bannon has returned to headlines in recent weeks after newly released Justice Department documents revealed extensive correspondence between him and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The records, reported by CNN, show a close personal relationship and suggest Epstein was deeply involved in Bannon's international political ambitions.

The Epstein connection has created an awkward dynamic: the same administration moving to clear Bannon's contempt conviction is simultaneously overseeing the release of documents that paint him in an unflattering light on an entirely different front.

Legal and Political Fallout

Legal experts have noted that the filing with prejudice is an unusually aggressive move. While presidents have broad pardon power and prosecutors have discretion over which cases to pursue, asking a court to permanently bar future prosecution of a completed and upheld conviction goes further than a typical exercise of prosecutorial discretion.

Democrats in Congress have condemned the move. Representative Bennie Thompson, the former chairman of the January 6 committee, called it "a direct assault on Congress's constitutional authority to compel testimony," according to reports.

For Bannon, who did not immediately comment on the filing, the dismissal would represent a complete vindication — not just a pardon, but an erasure of the legal record itself.

Judge Nichols, a Trump appointee who presided over the original trial, has not yet ruled on the motion.

This is a developing story. HTT News will update as more information becomes available.