Trump ally Steve Bannon to report to federal prison

Steve Bannon, a powerful voice in the Make America Great Again movement and one of former President Donald Trump's staunchest allies, is scheduled to report to federal prison on Monday.

Nearly two years ago, a federal jury found Bannon guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress after he refused to testify before or submit documents to the January 6 House Select Committee despite subpoenas ordering him to do so. Bannon served as chief strategist for the first several months of Trump's presidency but then abruptly left the White House in 2017 after a falling out with the president.

Bannon has also kept on the political offensive and is steadfastly optimistic about the upcoming election, anticipating a 'landslide' victory for Trump.

Bannon and Trump later made amends, and in the years since, Bannon, now 70, has continued to promote Trump and the MAGA movement on his Rumble program, "War Room." He has also appealed his conviction.

In an interview with Jonathan Karl of ABC News over the weekend, Bannon called the J6 committee "illegitimate" and insisted that in ignoring its subpoenas, he had been only following the "advice of counsel."

"I took my lawyer's advice," Bannon explained, "as everybody else in the country, if they had a high-powered lawyer, would do."

Recently, members of Congress have also challenged the legitimacy of the J6 committee in the hopes of sparing Bannon a prison sentence. Last week, several high-profile House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson (La.) and Rep. Steve Scalise (La.), filed an amicus brief in support of Bannon's appeal.

Johnson called the J6 committee "wrongfully constituted," effectively arguing that the subpoenas issued to Bannon were therefore invalid, and for all the damage the committee has apparently caused, Scalise pointed the finger directly at former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). "House Republican Leadership continues to believe Speaker Pelosi abused her authority when organizing the Select Committee," Scalise wrote in a joint statement with House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.).

Just days after the amicus brief was filed, however, SCOTUS denied Bannon's appeal to remain out of prison while the appeals process continues. Thus, Bannon must report on Monday to a low-security federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, where he will spend the next four months.

He will be released just a few days before Election Day on November 5.

Despite the looming prison sentence, Bannon has projected an image of courage. On Friday's episode of "War Room," he asked supporters to pray for his persecutors and not to waste any time writing him letters of encouragement. "Do not write a letter to me at all. It will not be read. I am not going to take a second to read your letters. I'm not. Because you know why? I don't want you taking time to write a letter. I want you to get to work," he said.

"This is all about victory. There is no substitute for victory here. There is no substitute for victory. You know that. I know that."

Even as he calls on MAGA supporters to stay focused on the election, Bannon is steadfastly optimistic about the outcome of it. In fact, he anticipates a "landslide" victory for Trump. "It's going to be 340 or 350 [electoral] votes," he told Karl.

Bannon has also kept on the political offensive, calling himself "a political prisoner of Nancy Pelosi and Merrick Garland." He likewise warned several former leaders of federal agencies that, should Trump win in November, investigators would soon be coming for them. He even named names, including former FBI Director James Comey, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, and Trump's former Attorney General Bill Barr.

"It's not retribution. It's justice," he explained.

Royce White — a current BIG3 pro basketball player, a frequent contributor to Jason Whitlock's BlazeTV show, "Fearless," and a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Minnesota — has voiced his unwavering support for Bannon on social media. White called Bannon "a great man" and even suggested that a nebulous group of enemies wants "to kill" him "because he's too effective."

"Free Steve Bannon[.] The People Are Coming!" White wrote.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!