United States: Trump’s former eminence grise, Steve Bannon, goes to prison to serve his sentence

American right-wing populist ideologue and former White House adviser to Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, reported to a federal prison in the northeastern United States on Monday to begin serving his sentence for obstructing the congressional investigation into the January 6, 2021, Capitol assault, an AFP photographer noted.

“I’m proud to go to prison today (…) if that’s what it takes to stand up to Joe Biden,” said the influential figure of the ultra-conservative movement before entering the Danbury prison (State of Connecticut). He must now serve four months behind bars.

Before arriving at Danbury prison, he spoke on his show to welcome the results of the first round of the early legislative elections in France, marked by the clear victory of the far right, and other good results of this movement in other countries during the European elections: “our movement is having its moment,” he rejoiced.

Storming the Capitol

In early June, a federal judge ordered that Steve Bannon begin serving his prison sentence no later than July 1. The sentence was handed down in October 2022 for obstructing Congress’s investigative powers over Bannon’s refusal to cooperate with the congressional inquiry into the January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol. It was upheld on appeal on May 10, 2024.

The day before January 6, Steve Bannon predicted that “all hell” would break loose. And on the day when hundreds of Donald Trump supporters stormed the headquarters of the US Congress, in an attempt to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the November 2020 election, Steve Bannon spoke at telephone with the outgoing president. The parliamentarians therefore wanted to question him about his role.

His entry into prison comes on the day that the conservative-majority US Supreme Court again delayed Donald Trump’s federal trial over his alleged attempts to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Another former adviser to Donald Trump at the White House, Peter Navarro, also sentenced to four months in prison for the same facts, began serving his sentence in March 2024.