“I’m proud to go to jail” – Bannon begins four-month sentence
Steve Bannon is in jail after refusing to testify before the US Congress and provide documents to lawmakers.
What: REUTERS
Contempt of US Congress: Former Trump confidante Steve Bannon will spend the next four months in a Connecticut jail. The 70-year-old sees himself as a political victim of Democrats. “I’m proud to go to prison,” Bannon said.
SFormer US President Donald Trump’s longtime confidant Teve Bannon has begun a four-month prison sentence. The 70-year-old appeared at a prison in the US state of Connecticut on Monday, where he turned himself in and was later taken into custody, prison authorities said.
He had earlier declared himself a “political prisoner” in front of reporters. Trump showed “a lot of solidarity” with him, Bannon added. In addition, the former White House chief strategist has railed against Democrats, particularly Attorney General Merrick Garland. “I’m proud to go to prison,” Bannon said. In this way he stands against the “corrupt Garland Judiciary”.
Outside the jail on Monday, Bannon was greeted by a group of Trump supporters. They carried flags with the slogan “Trump 2024,” referring to the right-wing populist’s re-election bid in November’s presidential election. Also in attendance was far-right Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green, a staunch Trump supporter.
Steve Bannon and other supporters next to Marjorie Taylor Green in front of the prison in Danbury, Connecticut
What: REUTERS
Bannon was convicted in 2022 of contempt of Congress for ignoring a subpoena from a panel investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and failing to provide requested documents. The court allowed Bannon to remain free for nearly two years while legally challenging the four-month prison sentence.
The judge ordered his prison sentence to begin on July 1 after an appeals court upheld the convictions. Last Friday, the US Supreme Court rejected Bannon’s emergency request.
Bannon has been an early supporter of Trump’s political rise. First as president of the far-right news site “Breitbart” and then as campaign manager in 2016. After Trump’s election victory, he became the chief strategist in the White House. Trump fired him in August 2017.
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