NEW YORK — Longtime ally of Donald Trump Steve Bannon He was released from federal prison early Tuesday and immediately continued his full-throated support for the former president, urging Republicans to join in large numbers next week To defeat Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.

Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison for defying a subpoena in a congressional investigation. US Capitol attack January 6, 2021. He left the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, before dawn and headed for Manhattan; where he continued his WarRoom podcast and online show and held a press conference later in the afternoon.

“I’m finally free from being a political prisoner,” Bannon said at the media event, saying prominent Democrats had hoped to break him. “I think you can see today that I am far from broken. “The four months I spent in Danbury federal prison gave me strength.”

He said the experience was empowering because of the people he met and what it said about Harris.

“I had the opportunity to listen, observe, and learn from working-class minorities—young African American men, Hispanic men, and, yes, Puerto Rican men—about what their lives were like,” Bannon said, claiming that his fellow inmates were less than pessimistic about it. A look at the Harris and Biden administration’s record on incarceration.

He also repeated his false claim that the 2020 election was “stolen” from Trump and said he spoke with the former president on Tuesday but declined to provide details. Judges, election officials, cybersecurity experts and Trump’s own attorney general have rejected Trump’s claims of mass voter fraud in 2020.

Bannon had said similar things about the election and his time in prison on his podcast and web show earlier in the day. He criticized the Democrats and their agenda and said: Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Even though the jury convicted him, they sent him to prison to silence his voice. a judge who sentenced him.

Bannon, 70, was sent to prison on July 1 after his request to postpone his prison sentence while he appealed his conviction was rejected by the Supreme Court.

a jury found Bannon guilty Two contempt of Congress charges in 2022: one for refusing to sit for testimony before the Jan. 6 House Committee, the other for refusing to produce documents related to his involvement in efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss to Joe Biden. presidential race.

Federal appeals court panel He upheld Bannon’s convictions in May. Bannon is now asking the full appeals court to hear his case. His legal team argued that the congressional subpoena was invalid because Trump invoked executive privilege. But prosecutors say Bannon left the White House years ago and Trump never invoked executive privilege before the committee.

Bannon will face additional charges in New York state court. deceived donors Who gave money to build a wall on the US-Mexico border. Bannon has denied money laundering, conspiracy, fraud and other charges. The trial in this case is scheduled to begin in December.

____

Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut.