Trump ally Steve Bannon released from jail after four months

The release of the brains behind Donald Trump’s far-right movement throws another wildcard into the neck-and-neck US election.

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon speaks to the press in New York after being released from the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut. Picture: AFP

Steve Bannon, one of the brains behind Donald Trump’s far-right movement, was released from prison overnight on Tuesday after spending nearly four months behind bars, throwing another wildcard into the US election, just a week away.

Mr Bannon left a federal prison in Connecticut where he was serving time for a contempt of congress conviction, and immediately took to the airwaves to boost Mr Trump, attack his rivals and amplify election conspiracy theories.

“You can see today, I’m far from broken. I’ve been empowered by my four months at Danbury federal prison,” Mr Bannon told a briefing, confirming he had already spoken to the former president and Republican nominee following his release.

Mr Bannon, who called himself a political prisoner, was convicted of defying a subpoena to testify before the congressional panel investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by Mr Trump’s supporters.

“I was able to listen, to observe and to learn from working class minorities” in prison, Mr Bannon said, claiming that young African American and Hispanic inmates in Danbury considered Vice-President Kamala Harris to be the “queen” of mass incarceration.

When he entered prison on July 1, he defiantly said he was “proud” to serve time “if it’s what it takes to stand up to Joe Biden”.

One of the masterminds behind Mr Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign, Mr Bannon, 70, was sentenced to four months in prison in October 2022, but remained free while appealing his conviction.

A federal appeals court upheld the conviction in May, and federal district judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, revoked Mr Bannon’s bail at a court hearing, ordering him to report to prison.

Much has changed in US politics since then, with Mr Biden dropping out of the race and Ms Harris replacing him as the Democrat nominee.

Mr Bannon took a senior role late in Mr Trump’s 2016 campaign and later served in the White House as his chief strategist, leaving after seven months, reportedly due to conflicts with other top staffers. Though he no longer works officially for the former president, he has continued to use his influence to try to get him back into the White House, mainly through his podcast The War Room.

Mr Bannon said on Tuesday that the country was “on the cusp of the biggest political comeback in the history of this nation”, but also warned that Mr Trump’s rivals were conspiring to undermine the Republican.

“They understand they can’t beat this at the ballot box, we’re going to have a reprise of 2020 where they’re going to try to do everything humanly possible to nullify Trump’s election and ­delegitimise his second term,” Mr Bannon said, without offering evidence for his claims.

In 2020, Mr Bannon was charged with wire fraud and money laundering for taking for personal use millions of dollars contributed by donors for the ­construction of a border wall with Mexico.

While others were found guilty in the scheme, Mr Trump issued a blanket pardon to Mr Bannon before leaving office in January 2021, leading to the dismissal of the charges against him.

On the day of the Capitol riot, as thousands of pro-Trump supporters overran the seat of congress to block certification of Mr Biden’s win over Mr Trump, Mr Bannon spoke by telephone with the then-president.

Consequently, congressional investigators had wanted to question Mr Bannon about his role in the chaos.

During his media briefing on Tuesday, a man who claimed to have been incarcerated with Mr Bannon asked when the next insurrection would be, before being escorted out by security.

Mr Bannon entered prison the same day that the conservative-dominated Supreme Court delayed the possibility of Mr Trump being tried in federal court for trying to overturn the 2020 election.

“Nancy Pelosi thought a federal prison was going to break me. Well, it empowered me. I am more empowered today, more focused today, sharper today, in better shape today than I’ve ever been in my entire life,” Mr Bannon told reporters, addressing the former House speaker. “So, Nancy Pelosi, suck on that.”

AFP