Steve Bannon to be released from prison next week, Bureau of Prisons says, despite his attempts for earlier exit

By Katelyn Polantz, Sara Murray and Devan Cole, CNN

(CNN) — Steve Bannon, the right-wing podcaster and former Donald Trump aide, is set to get out of federal prison next Tuesday despite repeated attempts he and his legal defense team have made for him to be released early.

The Bureau of Prisons said in a letter to Bannon on Monday that his release date will remain October 29, as originally set. That means he will serve his full 120-day sentence for contempt of Congress behind bars.

Since learning in recent days he may be eligible to move to home confinement, Bannon has accused the BOP of political interference, and his attorneys have been advocating both in court and to prison officials for leniency.

The acting warden of the low-security Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, wrote to Bannon’s lawyers on Monday that there wasn’t enough time to arrange for Bannon to move to home confinement in Washington, DC. Home confinement was a possibility for the former top White House adviser because of a provision for some first-time federal offenders under the Trump-era First Step Act.

“Mr. Bannon has insufficient time on his sentence to process a referral and secure approval for ten days of home confinement placement,” warden Derek Puzio wrote in a letter obtained by CNN. “The Regional Reentry Management Office overseeing your client’s release area advised their Residential Reentry Centers, which monitor home confinement placements, that they will not accept placements under 30 days.”

Bannon was convicted in 2022 for not complying with a subpoena from the House Select Committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol. His appeal of the conviction is ongoing even as he concludes his prison sentence.

While imprisoned at FCI Danbury, Bannon at first worked in the library as an orderly, making sure books were properly put away, according to his prison consultant Sam Mangel. Shortly after his sentence began, Bannon moved to teaching history and government civics to other inmates, Mangel added.

His release from prison will come at a critical time. The longtime Trump ally is a staunch supporter of the former president’s reelection bid. His popular “War Room” podcast has continued to air without him during his time in prison, and Bannon is likely to reemerge as a voice of inflammatory political rhetoric ahead of the November presidential election.

Bannon is still facing criminal fraud charges in New York, which he is fighting. He’s accused of defrauding donors in a fundraising effort branded the “We Build the Wall” campaign for a border wall between the US and Mexico. Bannon pleaded not guilty in 2022 to the state charges that include money laundering, conspiracy and fraud related to an alleged online scheme.

A trial in that case is set for December.

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, John Miller, Sabrina Shulman and Lauren del Valle contributed to this report.

This report has been updated with additional details.

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