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FILE – Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon arrives for a news conference outside the federal penitentiary in Danbury, Connecticut, on July 1, 2024. (Photo by YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images)

DANBURY, Conn. – Steve Bannon, a former White House aide and longtime ally of Donald Trump, was released from prison early Tuesday after serving a four-month sentence for turning himself in as part of the congressional investigation into the insurrection at the US Capitol had defied a subpoena on January 6, 2021.

Exactly a week before Election Day, Bannon left the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, according to Kristie Breshears, a spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

According to his representative, Bannon planned to hold a news conference in Manhattan later in the day and is also expected to resume his “War Room” podcast on Tuesday.

Bannon, 70, reported to prison on July 1 after the Supreme Court rejected his request to defer his sentence while he appealed his conviction.

He previously served as chief executive officer of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and served as chief White House strategist during the Republican president’s early months in office.

Trump is seeking to regain the presidency in next week’s election against the Democratic vice president Kamala Harris.

What was Steve Bannon convicted of?

In 2022, Bannon was found guilty by a jury of two counts of contempt of Congress.

The first reason was that he had refused to take part in testimony before the House committee on January 6, and the second was that he had refused to provide documents related to his involvement in Trump’s efforts to overturn his loss , to submit Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential campaign.

When he began his prison sentence in July, Bannon described himself as a “political prisoner.”

“I’m proud to go to prison,” he said at the time, adding that he was pushing back against Attorney General Merrick Garland and a “corrupt” Justice Department.

A federal appeals court upheld Bannon’s convictions in May. Bannon is now asking the full appeals court to hear his case. His legal team had argued that the congressional subpoena was invalid because Trump had invoked executive privilege.

But prosecutors say Bannon left the White House years ago and Trump never invoked executive privilege before the committee.

Bannon is also facing charges in a New York state court for deceiving donors who donated money to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Bannon pleaded not guilty to money laundering, conspiracy, fraud and other charges.

The trial in this case is scheduled to begin in December.