Steve Bannon, former top adviser to Donald Trump, greets his supporters as he arrives to speak to the media before entering prison at the U.S. Federal Penitentiary in Danbury, Connecticut, July 1, 2024.
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
Steve Bannon, a former adviser to Donald Trump, was sent to prison Monday to begin a four-month sentence for refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena.
Bannon entered the federal penitentiary in Danbury, Connecticut, around 12 p.m., NBC News reported.
In July 2022, a federal jury in Washington, D.C. found Bannon guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress after he refused to provide testimony and documents to the House special committee investigating the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol .
Bannon’s sentence was suspended pending an appeal. But after a federal appeals court upheld Bannon’s conviction in May, a federal judge in early June ordered him to report to prison by July 1.
Bannon had argued that he was not guilty of contempt because his lawyers had advised him not to comply with the congressional subpoena because his testimony might be covered by executive privilege – a defense the appeals court rejected.
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His last-ditch attempt to avoid prison time while appealing his conviction was rejected by the Supreme Court on Friday as the justices issued a one-sentence order denying Bannon’s request.
Bannon was greeted by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and a mixed crowd of supporters and protesters as he arrived at a news conference across from the federal penitentiary in Danbury.
He told reporters he was “proud to go to prison” and had “no regrets” shortly before reporting to begin his sentence.
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon speaks at a news conference outside the federal penitentiary in Danbury, Connecticut, on July 1, 2024.
Yuki Iwamura | Afp | Getty Images
Bannon, who served as chief strategist in the Trump White House until August 2017, is the second former Trump official to be jailed for defying a Jan. 6 subpoena from the committee.
Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro was indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2022 for refusing to comply with the committee’s subpoena. He is currently serving a four-month sentence in a federal prison in Miami after the Supreme Court rejected a similar appeal from him in April.
In an interview with NBC News correspondent Vaughn Hillyard this weekend, Bannon reiterated his arguments that the committee’s Jan. 6 subpoenas “mean nothing” and discussed his upcoming time behind bars.
“Part of my day will be doing what I have to do in prison to make sure I follow the rules and regulations,” he said, “and other times I will be working 100% to make sure President Trump will be re-elected.”
Bannon told NBC News that he is scheduled to be released from prison on October 31 – five days before Election Day.
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2024-07-01 17:30:01
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