What happened to former Trump strategist Steve Bannon? The War Room podcaster is currently in prison and therefore invited Osama bin Laden’s niece and Rudy Giuliani’s son to guest host his show

Here’s what you need to know about the Maga hothead.

Why is Steve Bannon behind bars?

On July 1, Bannon reported to the Danbury Federal Correctional Institution in Connecticut to begin a four-month sentence for failing to comply with congressional subpoenas related to the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. According to CNN, the January 6 committee was interested in communications between Bannon and Trump dating back to December 2020, as well as comments Bannon made in a podcast that aired the day before the riots in which he said, “All hell is going to break loose tomorrow.”

The committee asked him for details about those conversations and the context of his comments on the podcast, but Bannon repeatedly refused, citing the “executive privilege” Trump claimed. However, the committee claims that because of that privilege, Bannon did not have the freedom to ignore the subpoena in the first place. As a result, Bannon was sentenced to prison for contempt of Congress by federal judge Carl Nichols in 2022.

Prison drama

We’re talking about Steve Bannon, who not only broadcast the trip to prison live on his War Room podcast, but also organized a podium for a planned speech in which he said he was “proud” to go to prison.

The future of the War Room podcast

Ups and downs in the Trump relationship

However, in 2017, Bannon was featured on the cover of Time magazine as “the great manipulator” and touted as the “second most powerful man in the world,” which, according to CNN, did not sit well with the then-president. Not long after, negative stories about other aides leaked to the press, which many attributed to Bannon, and he was subsequently excluded from Trump’s inner circle. Trump later said that when Bannon was fired, “he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.”

Fast forward to last year – when Trump’s legal problems were piling up – and Bannon’s persistent, vocal defense of the former president on his podcast reportedly won him back into Trump’s good graces.

Life in prison

The Danbury Federal Correctional Institution is a low-security correctional facility in Connecticut that, according to CNN, primarily houses white-collar criminals. The prison’s website states that it houses just over a thousand inmates, both men and women, who, according to CNN, have no internet access. Although emails can occasionally be sent, they are monitored and attachments are not allowed. Inmates are also reportedly not allowed to operate a business while in prison.

CNN also details that as part of prisoner protocol, Bannon was required to go through a metal detector, undergo a body search and undergo a mental health evaluation.