Steve Bannon released from prison early a week before US election

Longtime Donald Trump acolyte Steve Bannon was released from prison on Tuesday, following a four-month sentence for defying a congressional subpoena in an investigation of the 6 January 2021 US Capitol attack.

The far-right firebrand’s release from federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, comes just one week before election day. Bannon, 70, surrendered to prison on 1 July after the US supreme court rebuffed his effort to postpone this sentence pending appeal.

“I’m not broken, I’m empowered,” Bannon said upon leaving lockup at about 3:15am local time, according to The New York Times. Bannon wasted little time in resuming his position as a pro-Trump demagogue, implying that political unrest would unfold after the election.

“If people think American politics has been divisive before, you haven’t seen anything,” Bannon said, according to reports.

He also insisted that serving time behind bars was “1,000%” worth the price of refusing congressional testimony. “If you’re not prepared to go to prison to fight for your country,” Bannon said, “you’re not prepared to fight for your country.”

Bannon was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress in July 2022. Federal prosecutors argued that Bannon thought himself “above the law” in refusing to sit before the January 6 House select committee and rejecting demands for documents in his work to subvert 2020’s election results – which saw Joe Biden besting Trump.

The prosecution said that Bannon “chose to show his contempt for Congress’s authority and its processes” in flouting these subpoenas. Bannon has insisted that the convictions against him were politically motivated, similar to Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that law enforcement actions against him stemmed from a nefarious Democratic conspiracy.

David Schoen, Bannon’s lawyer, claimed that this case prompted “serious constitutional issues” that needed to be examined by the supreme court.

“Quite frankly, Mr Bannon should make no apology. No American should make any apology for the manner in which Mr Bannon proceeded in this case,” Schoen said.

Bannon’s legal team has also argued that there was a “strong public interest” in permitting him to remain out on bail in advance of the 2024 US presidential elections.

Bannon is reportedly planning to hold a press conference later on Tuesday in Manhattan. He also is expected to resume his War Room podcast on Tuesday.

Bannon still faces state-level charges in New York over his alleged tricking of donors who contributed to building a US-Mexico border wall. Bannon maintains his innocence; trial in this case is scheduled for December.

With reporting from the Associated Press.