When Stephen K. Bannon reported to federal prison about four months ago, he put his podcast in the hands of little-known experts and the right-wingers behind Donald J. Trump. Left a blank on the message machine.
Soon, Mr. Bannon will rejoin the fray.
Bannon, 70, a podcast host, political strategist and confidant of President Trump, is scheduled to be released from a federal prison in Connecticut on Tuesday. His newfound freedom thrusts one of the country’s most influential conservative agitators into the final stages of a campaign already filled with inflammatory rhetoric, fear, suspicion and talk of retaliation. It will be.
Bannon was found guilty of contempt and reported to prison on July 1 for failing to respond to a Congressional subpoena seeking information regarding the riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. In its preparation, Mr. Bannon claimed: Trump similarly said the Justice Department was armed against him.
In his absence, his daily podcast “War Room” languished. He has had rotating guest hosts, including former Virginia congressman Dave Blatt and former Trump administration official Kash Patel, but none of them have been able to draw as large an audience as Mr. Bannon.
For example, on Oct. 1, “War Room” was ranked 52nd among political podcasts, behind the show hosted by former Minnesota Sen. Al Franken and the Lincoln Project, according to analytics firm PodCharts. was ranked. Before Mr. Bannon’s incarceration, PodCharts regularly ranked the show among the top 10 political podcasts in the country.
Bannon’s return throws a variable into a close race. Trump supporters say Bannon could make a difference in the final weeks, increasing enthusiasm among the party’s base, persuading low-frequency voters to vote and possibly helping prepare for post-election fallout. I’m looking forward to it.
“Steve Bannon is an intellectual leader and general of the MAGA movement,” said Donald Trump Jr. and others as a candidate for attorney general in the second Trump administration, and frequently contributes to “war.” Mike Davis said. room. Davis added, “Mr. Bannon will come out of prison a week before the election like a roaring caged lion.”
It’s unclear what exactly that will sound like. Bannon, who is still in prison, could not be reached for comment, but announced he would hold a press conference at a New York City hotel on Tuesday afternoon.
There is speculation that his daughter Maureen Bannon, who helps run the podcast, will head directly to Allentown, Pennsylvania, to answer questions about Trump’s plans and speak at Trump’s rally on Tuesday night. refused to respond.
The Trump campaign also did not respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Bannon, a shrewd tactician, plays an unusual role for a right-winger. He is a rare underground power broker who can rally crowds based on his celebrity. He led Trump’s successful 2016 campaign in its final stages and served briefly in the former president’s administration before becoming one of the chief instigators of efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. .
From the set of the podcast War Room, which he has hosted since 2019, Bannon promotes Republican candidates for president, while also appearing as a series of mainstream and fringe figures, including commentators, salespeople, and conspiracy theorists. We have provided that platform.
Just two weeks after Mr. Bannon was jailed, one of Mr. Bannon’s main supporters, exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, also known as Miles Guo, was sentenced in federal court to charges of fraud, money laundering and extortion. was convicted of. Prosecutors said Mr. Guo paid Mr. Bannon $1 million under a consulting contract.
Trump’s former trade adviser, Peter Navarro, was also sentenced to four months in prison this year for contempt of Congress. The day he was released, he flew to Milwaukee to speak at the Republican National Convention. Since then, Navarro has been a frequent guest host on “War Room.”
“Steve will be focused on getting people to the polls,” Navarro said. “He’s going to be on the air and get the message out to a lot of people about how important this election is.”
Both Mr. Bannon and Mr. Bannon claim that the Bureau of Prisons was intentionally slow in processing early release requests under the First Step Act, which Mr. Trump signed in 2018, and complained that he should have served a shorter sentence. There is.
Maureen Bannon claimed in the War Room last week that her father’s release was delayed in an effort to stop Trump, citing a letter from the warden of the maximum-security prison in Danbury, Conn., where Bannon is being held. did. From the victory on November 5th.
In a letter to Bannon’s attorney, the warden said Bannon’s short sentence does not qualify him for the internment camp required for such early release.
Matt Boyle, a reporter for Breitbart News, which Bannon co-founded, said he was in regular email contact with Bannon. “He’ll ask me what I think about the race situation. He’ll ask me how the ground game situation is going,” Boyle said. “He’s very focused on his game on the ground.”
Bannon also teaches civics and politics classes to other inmates, Navarro said. He said he believes Bannon could help sway votes through his guidance.
“Inmates don’t vote, but their families will, and they have extended families,” Navarro said.
If Bannon is released, his contributions could be extended beyond Nov. 5, given his past efforts to question the integrity of the election system. Before the 2020 campaign, he urged Trump to declare victory before the votes were counted. This is critical to efforts to “set the dynamic, the narrative dynamic, that this election is not stolen,” he said.
After Joseph R. Biden was declared the winner, Bannon became one of the loudest voices of the Stop the Steal movement. On the eve of January 6, 2021, he predicted on his podcast that “all hell is going to break loose tomorrow.”
Two weeks later, on his final day in office, Mr. Trump pardoned Mr. Bannon, who was charged with aiding and abetting the fraud of thousands of people who donated to a nonprofit that believed construction of the Mexican border wall would be completed.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Mr. Bannon misappropriated more than $1 million from his campaign. The nonprofit’s founder, Brian Kolfage, was not pardoned and was sentenced to more than four years in prison.
Mr. Bannon still faced legal exposure from a project called “We Build the Wall Inc.” Last year, a New York state judge ordered Bannon’s lawyers to pay nearly $500,000 in unpaid costs to Bannon in the case. And in 2022, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted Bannon on charges of fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to participate in a scheme. Presidential pardons do not apply to state courts.
Mr. Bragg’s office also brought charges that led to Mr. Trump’s conviction on 34 criminal charges, and is scheduled to begin a trial against Mr. Bannon on December 9th. If convicted, Bannon could face up to 15 years in prison. prison.
