VOA News | Monday, July 1, 2024 
Former Trump aide Bannon reports to prison 

Steve Bannon, a former political aide to Donald Trump, reported to federal prison Monday to serve his sentence for defying a congressional subpoena for a House committee investigation into the January 6, 2021, insurrection. Bannon told reporters at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, that he was a “political prisoner” and “proud of going to prison.” He also blamed Democrats and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland for his four-month prison sentence. Bannon was found guilty in 2022 on two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to sit for a deposition with the House January 6 committee and a second for refusing to provide documents related to his involvement in the Republican ex-president’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. A judge permitted Bannon to remain free for almost two years as he appealed his case, but he was ordered to begin his sentence after a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld his convictions in May. The Supreme Court rejected another appeal by Bannon on Friday, not allowing him to postpone serving his sentence any further. It is expected that Bannon will appeal to the entire D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. A group of supporters congregated Monday outside the facility to which Bannon reported. U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was among those in support. On Sunday, Greene took to X (formerly known as Twitter) and referred to Bannon’s imprisonment as a “DISGRACE to our country.” – Read more