The U.S. Supreme Court has just ordered President Joe Biden's lawyers, in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), to respond to former Trump-advisor Steve Bannon's request to have his prison sentence delayed. 

Jeff Clark, a former DOJ attorney, indicated as much on Friday, June 21, 2024.

Clark posted the following to his X account:

Some mildly good news for Bannon.

Chief Justice Roberts has ordered the Biden DOJ to respond to the emergency stay application to keep him out of jail by 4 pm this coming Wednesday, June 26, 2024 at 4 pm.

At that point, Steve’s clock will have ticked down to 4 days left before… pic.twitter.com/MJmXeBcfYw

— Jeff Clark (@JeffClarkUS) June 21, 2024

Background

Bannon has been ordered to report to prison by July 1, 2024, for having been found guilty of contempt of Congress.

The charge resulted from Bannon's refusal to comply with the now-disbanded House Jan. 6 committee. This was the highly partisan committee that was supposed to investigate the Capitol protest of Jan. 6, 2021, but, instead, spent its time trying to pin blame on former President Donald Trump.

Bannon refused to comply, which led to Congress voting to bring contempt of Congress charges against him. Some Republicans helped the Democrats to get over the line.

Then, the DOJ decided to prosecute the charges, which resulted in a guilty conviction and a four-month prison sentence. Bannon has tried to appeal the sentence, but, thus far, has been unsuccessful.

In his latest move, Bannon asked the Supreme Court to delay his having to report to prison on July 1. And, now, the Supreme Court is asking for a reply from the DOJ.

Good news for Bannon?

Clark believes that this is "mildly good news for Bannon."

"Some mildly good news for Bannon. Chief Justice Roberts has ordered the Biden DOJ to respond to the emergency stay application to keep him out of jail by 4 pm this coming Wednesday, June 26, 2024 at 4 pm. At that point, Steve’s clock will have ticked down to 4 days left before his prison report date of 7/1/24," he wrote.

Clark added, "The House must file an amicus brief in support of June 26. The evening of June 26 is when the Supreme Court (or Chief Justice Roberts acting on his own) will start considering the stay application. The House must be on file before the Supreme Court starts that process for its views to be heard."

We'll see how this plays out.

Before Bannon gets ahead of himself, it is worth remembering that the Supreme Court recently turned down a similar request from Peter Navarro - another Trump advisor who has been imprisoned for refusing to comply with the Jan. 6 committee.