Right-wing podcast host and former Donald Trump campaign official Steve Bannon was released early from prison Tuesday. Bannon was serving a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress.
Bannon was jailed after defying subpoenas from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol.
Upon his release Tuesday, which comes with just a week of the US presidential election race left to run, Bannon is expected to first hold a news conference and then to resume hosting his show, the “War Room” podcast. The politics-focused show has seen its audience dwindle in his absence, The New York Times reported.
“Bannon will come out of prison a week before the election like a roaring caged lion,” one of Bannon’s podcast contributors told the Times, adding that Bannon is still considered “the intellectual leader and general of the MAGA movement.” In what is a tied race, Trump’s supporters are looking to Bannon’s return as having the potential to tip the odds in the Republican’s favor, the outlet noted.
Bannon still faces additional charges in a New York case, where he is alleged to have defrauded donors who gave money to build a border wall with Mexico. Bannon has pled not guilty.