PRESS RELEASE Contact: press@congressionalintegrity.org
For Immediate Release
Date: October 29, 2024
Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon was released from prison today after serving a sentence for ignoring a Congressional subpoena as part of an investigation into the January 6th attack on our Capitol and the Big Lie conspiracy leading up to it. Hours after his release, he was back on his podcast to talk about his plans to repeat this overturn next week’s election if Trump loses again at the ballot box. Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and other MAGA Republicans have also openly announced their plans to do whatever it takes to return Trump to the White House.
In response, Congressional Integrity Project executive director, Kyle Herrig, issued the following statement:
“Steve Bannon is clearly unbowed even after going to prison after trying to overturn the 2020 election and obstructing an investigation into January 6th. Just hours after getting released, he’s whipping up the same un-democratic and dangerous rhetoric as he did four years ago. We heard on his first podcast after prison a dangerous repeat of what we heard from Bannon, Trump allies, and Trump himself before 2020 – baselessly claims the election will be stolen before the polls even close. MAGA Republicans continue to double down on election denialism in a desperate attempt to return Trump to the White House, putting their fealty to Trump over our democracy and country.”
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NOTUS: Steve Bannon, Fresh Out of Prison, Returns to Air With a Vengeance.
- “Bannon, who always peppers his speeches with militaristic lingo, laid out a ‘three-phase’ operation to put Trump back in the White House, stressing that their fight won’t be over when the polls close next Tuesday. The rhetoric adds to what is already becoming a standard election strategy for die-hard MAGA types: simultaneously calling for voter engagement while preemptively fearmongering about widespread electoral fraud — setting themselves up to question election results if Trump loses.”
- “Bannon repeatedly referenced his intention to have a 3 p.m. press conference during which he’d speak about his takeaways from his four months at FCI Danbury, a low-security federal prison in suburban Connecticut where inmates exclusively told NOTUS that he found a home with the ‘white car’ population behind bars and tended to hang out ‘with the Italians, the godfather type.’ Bannon continued to serve as a Trump surrogate in prison, espousing the MAGA gospel to fellow inmates and justifying the former president’s bellicose approach to politics.” [NOTUS, 10/29/2024]
The New Republic: Steve Bannon’s First Show Out of Jail Should Be a Huge Warning.
- “Steve Bannon, the engineer behind Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, was fresh out of prison Tuesday and already drumming up hatred and fear ahead of the presidential election next week. In his first public appearance on his War Room podcast after completing a four-month stint in federal prison, Bannon once again claimed he was a political prisoner and warned that it could happen to others, too.” [The New Republic, 10/29/2024]
The Guardian: Steve Bannon Peddles US Election Conspiracy Theories On Podcast Hours After Prison Exit.
- “Bannon invoked his and Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election was stolen and that former House speaker Nancy Pelosi was behind his imprisonment. Promotion of this widely debunked claim that Biden stole the election helped fuel the deadly insurrection during which Trump supporters attacked the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.” [The Guardian, 10/29/2024]
Newsweek: Steve Bannon Warns Election Could Turn Trump Presidency Into ‘Nightmare’.
- “Bannon’s comments came during a discussion with Mike Davis, founder of the Article III Project and one of Trump’s most ardent defenders on social media. Bannon emphasized that, beyond the presidential race, down-ballot elections would be crucial for Republicans. ‘We’ve got to take the House,’ Bannon said, adding that securing the Senate was equally essential to avoid what he saw as an inevitable Democratic effort to undermine a second Trump term. ‘A Trump second term without the House would be a nightmare, right? How quickly would they move to impeach him?’ he asked Davis. Davis responded, ‘They will do whatever it takes to stop President Trump,’ pointing to their previous efforts.” [Newsweek, 10/29/2024]
Politico: Fresh Out Of Prison, Bannon Says Maga Movement ‘is Coming To Fruition’.
- “It was like he never left. Just hours after his release from federal prison on Tuesday, influential MAGA podcast host Steve Bannon was live on Rumble.”
- “With a week until Election Day, Bannon told his listeners that “everything we’ve fought for for years is coming to fruition.” And he repeatedly thanked those who filled his place to help mobilize MAGA voters in his absence. He is expected to speak at a press conference at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.” [Politico, 10/29/2024]
THROWBACK: CNN: Steve Bannon Was Knee-Deep In January 6.
- “In the days leading up to the January 6 riot at the US Capitol that left five people dead and more than 100 police officers wounded, one man may have been whispering in Donald Trump’s ear more than any other: Steve Bannon. In the waning days of December, Bannon was on the phone with Trump, urging the President to make January 6 – the date of the official certification on the Electoral College vote by Congress – a sort of final stand in his war on (nonexistent) voter fraud.”
- “That Bannon was so involved in influencing Trump’s view of January 6 – or that he was in contact with the President at all – is a stark testimonial to the fact that Trump never really breaks with anyone fully. Remember that Trump fired Bannon, who was serving as the chief political adviser to the president, back in August 2017.” [CNN, 9/23/21]