Speaker Johnson asks SCOTUS to delay Steve Bannon’s prison sentence: 'Wrongfully constituted'

On Monday, July 1, "War Room" host and former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon is expected to surrender for a four-month federal prison sentence.

But Bannon is still making a last-ditch effort to avoid incarceration, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to postpone his surrender date while he appeals his conviction. And House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) is supporting Bannon in that effort.

Johnson, during a Tuesday night, June 25 appearance on Fox News program, told host Sean Hannity that House Republicans were "working on filing an amicus brief" in favor of Bannon "because the January 6 Committee was, we think, wrongfully constituted."

Johnson claimed that the January 6 Select Committee "violated House rules," adding that House Republicans will "be expressing that to the (U.S. Supreme) Court, and I think it will help Steve Bannon in his appeal."

Bannon was quick to praise Johnson for supporting his appeal to the High Court.

The far-right MAGA Republican told Axios, "Speaker Johnson and House leadership showed tremendous courage in repudiating the illegally constituted J6 Committee and its activities/investigations."

Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison for contempt of Congress after defying a subpoena from the January 6 Select Committee. The "War Room" host has attacked the bipartisan House committee for its connection to the Democratic Party, but in fact, two of its members were conservative Republicans: former Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both outspoken Donald Trump critics on the right.

Axios' Rebecca Falconer notes, "(Bannon) failed to turn over documents or appear for a deposition to the committee, citing executive privilege. The January 6 panel said, in its contempt resolution, that Bannon had been a private citizen for more than three years by January 6, 2021."

CNN's Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday asked House Speaker Mike Johnson about whether he believes claims that suggests Biden takes drugs to do his job as president are "ridiculous."

The speaker said, "I think it's gonna be a very interesting contrast between these two men. And the interesting thing about this race, Kaitlan, is that both of these men have been president, so you can ignore the rhetoric."

Collins replied, "Yeah, but do you think some the rhetoric, Speaker Johnson, just knowing you, and how you conduct yourself, do you think some of the rhetoric is out of line, when people from Trump's team are suggesting — and Trump himself — that Biden is going to be on cocaine when he's on the debate stage Thursday night?"

The Louisiana lawmaker said, "Look, there's a lot of things that are said in jest. Of course, no one expects that Joe Biden will be on cocaine, but they do ask questions, and I think it makes sense why people are asking will he be on some sort of energy drinks or something."

"His energy levels, you can see, vary depending on what format he' in and what forum," Johnson said, "and we expect that he'll do what he did at the State of the Union. He had a lot of energy that night, so that's the Joe Biden I expect to see. The question is, can he stay for 90 minutes on that stage, and go toe-to-toe with [former] President Trump, who goes to rallies and talks for two hours on end without any break and any notes. So it'll be a very interesting thing to see."

Collins replied, "I mean, the allegations about drugs have just been frankly ridiculous and obviously are baseless as well."