Courts and Jan. 6 Prosecutions

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a brief, unsigned order Monday vacating a D.C. Circuit decision that had upheld former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s 2022 criminal contempt of Congress conviction for defying the House Jan. 6 committee, and remanded the case for dismissal. The move removes the last legal obstacle for the Justice Department, which in February asked the Court to clear a path to drop the case after concluding the prosecution was no longer in "the interests of justice." Bannon already served a four‑month prison sentence in 2024 and paid more than $6,000 in fines, so the effect is largely symbolic but wipes the conviction from his record. The order also marks a sharp reversal from the Biden‑era DOJ stance, which had argued Bannon showed "total noncompliance" and urged the Court not to delay his imprisonment. The decision comes as Trump’s second‑term Justice Department works to unwind a series of Jan. 6‑related prosecutions and after Trump issued a blanket pardon to over 1,500 people convicted or charged in connection with the Capitol riot, fueling online debate over selective justice, congressional oversight power, and the durability of Jan. 6 accountability.