Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, was released from prison early Tuesday after serving a four-month sentence. for disobeying a congressional subpoena about the assault on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Bannon left the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, according to Kristie Breshears, a spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He is scheduled to hold a news conference later in the day in Manhattan, according to his representatives.
He is also expected to resume his podcast on Tuesday.
Bannon, 70, reported to the prison on July 1 after the Supreme Court rejected his attempt to delay sentencing while he appeals the conviction.
In 2022, a jury found him guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to testify before the House Committee on January 6, and the other for refusing to provide documents related to his involvement in the efforts to Trump for overturning his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
As he began serving his sentence, Bannon called himself a “political prisoner.”
“I’m proud to go to jail,” he said then, adding that he was standing up to Attorney General Merrick Garland and a “corrupt” Justice Department.
Trump, a Republican, aspires to a second term in the White House in next week’s presidential election against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
A federal appeals court upheld Bannon’s convictions in May. Now, he requests that the full appeals court study his case. His legal team had argued that the congressional subpoena was invalid because Trump had asserted his executive privilege. The prosecution, for its part, claims that Bannon had left the White House years earlier and that the former president never invoked his executive privileges in front of the committee.
Bannon also faces criminal charges in New York state court for allegedly deceiving donors who gave money to build a wall on the border with Mexico. Bannon has pleaded not guilty to money laundering, conspiracy and fraud, among other charges. The trial in that case is scheduled to begin in December.
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