Steve Bannon asks US supreme court to delay his prison sentence

Longtime Trump ally is supposed to begin serving his four-month sentence for contempt of Congress on 1 July

Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of Donald Trump, asked the supreme court on Friday to delay his prison sentence while he fights his convictions for defying a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the attack on US Capitol.

The emergency application came after a federal appeals court panel rejected Bannon's bid to avoid reporting to prison by 1 July to serve his four-month sentence. It was addressed to Chief Justice John Roberts, who oversees emergency appeals from courts in Washington DC.

The high court asked the justice department to respond to the request by Wednesday, days before the court is set to begin its summer recess. The court denied a similar request from another Trump aide shortly after receiving a response in March.

Bannon was convicted nearly two years ago of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to sit for a deposition with the January 6 House committee and the other for refusing to provide documents related to his involvement in Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Bannon has cast the case as politically motivated, and his attorney David Schoen has said the case raises serious constitutional issues" that need to be examined by the supreme court.

Bannon is supposed to report to prison by 1 July to begin serving his four-month sentence for contempt of Congress.