Steve Bannon news: Ex-White House strategist won’t be detained before trial as Trump judge given case

Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon is in FBI custody once more.

The conservative podcast host and former Breitbart News chairman surrendered himself at the FBI’s Washington Field Office shortly after 9.30 am on Monday.

On Friday, a District of Columbia grand jury indicted Mr Bannon on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress, the result of a referral by the House of Representatives last month after he defied a subpoena commanding him to give evidence before the House select committee investigating the 6 January insurrection. The onetime naval officer and film producer could face up to two years behind bars if convicted.

Mr Bannon, who served as Mr Trump’s top adviser from January 2017 to July 2017, has claimed that executive privilege — a legal doctrine that protects conversations between and among a president and his advisers — precludes him from having to testify about the events leading up to the violent attack on the US Capitol on 6 January.

Most reputable legal scholars say such claims hold no water because the events in question took place long after he left government service.

Bannon surrendered himself at the FBI’s Washington Field Office shortly after 9.30 am on Monday after emerging from a black SUV dressed in a green winter jacket and black shirt.

As he walked towards the building, he stopped briefly to address a camera that was live-streaming his surrender for his War Room podcast.

He told his viewers: “I don’t want anybody to take their eye off the ball, what we do every day” and declared that he and his supporters were “taking down the Biden regime” and called the case against him “all noise, not signal”.

Steve Bannon will appear before federal magistrate judge Robin Meriweather this afternoon, NBC News reports.

He has also secured former assistant federal prosecutor Evan Corcoran as a defense lawyer. Mr Corcoran spent years working for the US Attorney’s Office in DC.

In the same hour, Judge Meriweather is also handling hearings for three US Capitol attack defendants, including one accused of assaulting the National Guard on 6 January.

Once in custody, Mr Bannon will be booked, including having his fingerprints taken, mugshots, and a rundown of his criminal case history.

There will be an interview with pretrial services and then he will be transferred to the DC federal courthouse a few blocks away.

On his podcast on 5 January, the day before the assault on the Capitol, Bannon told listeners to “strap in” for “game day” and promised the “all hell is going to break loose tomorrow”.

Meanwhile, Bannon’s podcast War Room is going ahead.