Right-wing podcast host and former Trump administration official Steve Bannon has been released from prison, Kristie Breshears, a spokesperson for the federal Bureau of Prisons, told reporters on Tuesday.
He is expected to hold a news conference later in the day in Manhattan.
Bannon was sentenced to federal prison in connection with a conviction in 2022 on contempt of Congress charges for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the Jan. 6th committee.
He served four months at a federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut after reporting in July after calling himself a "political prisoner."
Bannon claimed he had not defied the subpoena but was relying on the advice of his lawyers, who told him not to respond until Trump's claim of executive privilege in the matter was resolved. Courts did not buy that argument.
In the days leading up to his sentence, Bannon remained defiant.
"I'm going to be more powerful in prison than I am now," Bannon told reporters. He has not been heard from since he was put behind bars but that is expected to change in the days leading up to the election.
He is expected to resume supporting Trump and returning to his "War Room" podcast. The podcast had frequently appeared among Apple's top podcasts but its popularity has plunged without Bannon being behind the microphone, CNN reported.
Bannon's legal problems are not over.
In August, a judge ruled he must stand trial in New York on criminal fraud charges related to fundraising for the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
Bannon, 70, was charged with money laundering and conspiracy by the Manhattan District Attorney's office in September 2022 for allegedly deceiving donors who gave over $15 million to the "We Build the Wall" fundraising campaign.
The indictment alleges that Bannon assured donors that all their money would be used for building Trump's wall, but he secretly diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars to the fundraising drive's chief executive, Brian Kolfage, a decorated U.S. Air Force veteran who had pledged not to take a salary.
He has pleaded not guilty in the case.
Originally published on International Business Times
