Bannon Reports to Federal Prison After Conviction for Defying Congress

With a defiant flurry of speechifying, Stephen K. Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald J. Trump, reported to prison on Monday to begin a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress, days after the Supreme Court rejected his last-ditch effort to avoid incarceration.

Mr. Bannon arrived outside the federal lockup in Danbury, Conn. — a low-security facility about 60 miles north of Manhattan — before noon, and used his last moments of freedom to host a loud rally and live-streamed news conference, surrounded by supporters waving flags and ringing cowbells.

Standing alongside Representative Majorie Taylor Greene, the far-right congresswoman from Georgia, and Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York police commissioner who spent three years imprisoned on fraud charges, Mr. Bannon predicted big victories for Republicans in this year’s election. He slammed what he called “the ruling elite” in America.

“Victory or death,” Mr. Bannon said, just before being blessed by a priest. “We either win or we’re going to have the death of a constitutional republic.”

The circuslike atmosphere is likely to stand in stark contrast to life behind bars, where Mr. Bannon, 70, will spend the most of the remaining time in this year’s election cycle. A brash and influential figure in right-wing circles, Mr. Bannon was found guilty in 2022 of defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Mr. Bannon is one of several figures close to Trump who have had legal problems, including the former president himself, who was convicted on 34 felony charges in state court in New York in late May. Those charges — falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 hush-money payment to the porn star Stormy Daniels — also carry the possibility of prison time, or lesser punishments like probation. Mr. Trump, 78, will be sentenced on July 11.