Steve Bannon, the former chief strategist for the Trump administration, alleges he illegally is being incarcerated by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons when he should be eligible for release under a Trump-era law.
Bannon is serving a four month sentence after he was convicted in 2022 of refusing to comply with a Congressional subpoena related to the U.S. House investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. capitol.
“The [Vice President Kamala] Harris Bureau of Prisons is illegally holding me past my legal release date, trying to eliminate one of President Trump’s strongest advocates. These criminals reek of desperation,” Bannon told The National Pulse.
Bannon’s attorneys say he should have been released in September under the Trump-era First Step Act, a bipartisan federal prison reform measure passed by Congress in 2018 that seeks to reduce prison sentences for non-violent offenders to reduce the prison population.
In late August, Bannon’s attorneys filed a motion seeking bail and Bannon’s early release under the First Step Act, but that motion hasn’t been acted on. Bannon is scheduled to be released Oct. 29.
The Tennessee Star reported Monday that the Bureau of Prisons would not confirm to the outlet if Bannon was being considered for early release under the act.
A Federal Correctional Institute spokesperson told The Star that everyone who is in custody is evaluated under the First Step Act but would not comment specifically about Bannon’s case.
“All individuals in our custody are reviewed under the First Step Act (FSA) for eligibility and scoring,” but did not provide information specifically about Bannon’s case.
Forbes magazine reported earlier this month that implementation of the law “has been plagued with computer problems to calculate the credits, inconsistent interpretation of the First Step Act and poor communication to the line staff at prisons who are tasked with implementing the programs.”
Though the executive assistant told The Star all prisoners are screened under the FSA, guidance to streamline implementation of the law was issued by the Biden-Harris administration earlier this month, when Forbes reported the administration’s implementation of the criminal justice reform, “has been plagued with computer problems to calculate the credits, inconsistent interpretation of the First Step Act and poor communication to the line staff at prisons who are tasked with implementing the programs.”
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