Judge shoots down Steve Bannon’s bid for new trial

Former Trump White House strategist Steve Bannon was denied a new trial by a DC federal judge Friday following his conviction on two counts of contempt of Congress earlier this year.

US District Judge Carl Nichols shot down Bannon’s request for a do-over, which claimed, in part, that the jury instructions in his case were flawed. 

“Defendant’s arguments relating to the jury instructions, while certainly well preserved, do not demonstrate a serious miscarriage of justice,” Nichols wrote in denying Bannon’s motion. 

In the same order, Nichols denied a renewed longshot bid to dismiss Bannon’s conviction. 

Bannon was convicted of contempt of Congress in July after he refused to comply with a subpoena from the House select committee investigating last year’s Capitol riot. 

Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump and the former executive chairman of Breitbart News, faces a minimum of 60 days in prison and a maximum of two years. 

Bannon’s set to be sentenced on Oct. 21. 

After his conviction, Bannon’s attorney vowed to appeal – and called their appellate strategy “bulletproof.” 

“The overreaching by the government in this case has been extraordinary on every level,” attorney David Schoen said at the time.

“But shame on this office, on the United States Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice, for how far it went in this case,” he added.