‘I’m a Political Prisoner’: Steve Bannon Reports to Prison for Defying the January 6 Committee
The former advisor to President Trump denounced his imprisonment in between the chants of counter demonstrators, saying ‘lock him up’ and ‘USA.’
President Trump’s former advisor, Steve Bannon, reported to prison on Monday to begin his four month prison sentence, after being shouted down by a crowd as he attempted to hold a press conference outside the prison facility.
After the Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal last week, Mr. Bannon, convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to answer a subpoena relating to his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol, had no choice but to report to the low security Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury in Connecticut.
Mr. Bannon held a news conference, alongside Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. However, it was hard to discern what he was saying as a crowd of counter demonstrators shouting Mr. Bannon and Ms. Greene down.
“I’m a political prisoner,” Mr. Bannon could be heard saying in between the chants of counter demonstrators, saying “lock him up” and “USA.”
Mr. Bannon claimed his situation was comparable to that of the victims of McCarthyism and the House Un-American Activities Committee during the Second Red Scare.
Ms. Greene could be heard saying, on a Newsmax broadcast of the presser, that “this is a Democrat district, where is the Democrat?” as counter protestors shouted over her and rang bells, overwhelming her voice despite the fact she was speaking into a microphone and the crowd was not.
Mr. Bannon had been allowed to remain free for about two years after he was convicted but was ordered to report to prison after an appeals court upheld his conviction. Despite the Supreme Court refusing to his his case, Mr. Bannon can still appeal to the full circuit court, though will have to do so from prison.
Mr. Bannon, 70, is one of two top advisors to Trump that have been convicted of contempt of Congress. Trump’s trade advisor, Peter Navarro, 74, is currently serving a four-month prison sentence at Miami.
Another elderly Trump aide, long term Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, 76, is currently serving a five month sentence at New York City’s notorious Rikers Island (his second stay there) after he refused to “flip” on his boss and cooperate with prosecutors investigating Trump and his companies.
Mr. Bannon is also facing criminal charges in New York state relating to his scheme to raise money for a wall along the southern border. Mr. Bannon has pleaded not guilty to money laundering, conspiracy, and fraud charges.
Mr. Bannon had been originally charged with defrauding donors of more than $25 million by federal prosecutors under Trump’s administration. However, Trump pardoned Mr. Bannon in a slew of pardons issued in his final days in office. Two of Mr. Bannon’s co-defendants pleaded guilty in the federal case.