Steve Bannon, former chief strategist to Donald Trump, found out Tuesday he will not be released early from his four-month prison sentence.
He is due to be freed next week from federal prison in Connecticut.
However, his lawyers filed a request saying that he had accrued 10 days worth of First Step Act credits, (under Trump-era criminal justice reform) which meant he should have been released to home confinement on Saturday,
‘There is no reason for Mr. Bannon to remain in prison despite earning those credits,’ his lawyers say. ‘The Court should grant Mr. Bannon’s motion and order him released immediately.’
Judge Carl Nichols, sitting in Washington, D.C., issued his ruling Tuesday, denying the request.
Trump ally Steve Bannon is coming to the end of a four-month prison sentence. He is seen here speaking outside Danbury Correctional Institution in July
Bannon filed his motion after the Bureau of Prisons wrote to him Monday saying that his release date would remain October 29, as originally set.
The radio host and political agitator accused the Bureau of Prisons of political interference.
In a statement railing against Kamala Harris for failing to properly implement the First Step Act, he linked the fate of incarcerated black and Hispanic men to his own case.
‘Harris played politics with people’s lives, and now she will pay for her arrogance—Black and Hispanic men detest her and will never vote for her,’ he said at the weekend.
‘It’s impossible for her to win Pennsylvania, Michigan, or Georgia without this critical vote. Harris’s Bureau of Prisons keeps me incarcerated 10 days longer than is legal because of the same failure to implement FSA.’
He argued that he was entitled to move to home confinement because of a provision for some non-violent, first-time offenders under the First Step Act.
On Monday, Bannon’s legal team filed a motion requesting he be released 10 days early
Bannon was Trump’s White House chief strategist before losing a power struggle with other advisers to the president
Bannon was convicted in 2022 of contempt of Congress, of failing to appear before the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building.
His appeal against conviction continues.
However, his incarceration deprives Trump of vocal support for his campaign on the airwaves and Bannon has said it amounts to election interference.
He also still faces criminal fraud charges in New York where he is accused of defrauding donors to a ‘We Build the Wall’ campaign, designed to fund more of Trump’s barrier with Mexico.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges including money laundering, conspiracy and fraud.
