THE Steve Bannon, a ally of Donald Trump influential, arrived in prison today to serve a four-month sentence for ignoring a subpoena from a congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Bannon arrived at the low-security federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, and spoke to cheering reporters and supporters. He described himself as a “political prisoner” and said his far-right, populist followers would spread his message while he served his sentence. “I am proud to enter prison today. Not only do I have no regrets, I’m proud of what I did,” he said.

After speaking to the cameras, Bannon got into a dark SUV which entered the prison complex.

Bannon will remain in prison almost until the day of the presidential election, on the 5th of November. Inmates in federal prisons don’t have access to the internet or social media, so it will be difficult for him to communicate with his followers on the “War Room” podcast.

Bannon was convicted after refused to turn over documents to Congress or testify before a House committee investigating the riots on Capitol Hill in January 2021. He was one of Trump’s key advisers during the 2016 campaign and became White House chief strategist in 2017. He is not the first former Trump administration official to be jailed for refusing to cooperate with the committee. The same four-month sentence was handed down to Peter Navarro, Trump’s former trade adviser, who was jailed in March.

In 2021, Trump pardoned Bannon after he was charged, federally, with defrauding supporters of the Republican president as part of a fundraising campaign to build a wall on the US border with Mexico. At the state level, Bannon has pleaded not guilty to those charges and is awaiting trial.