As the presidential election fast approaches, one of Donald Trump’s most supportive media personalities, Steve Bannon, will return to the fold as a wildcard in the final week of voting.

After being sentenced to 120 days in jail after being convicted of contempt of Congress, popular right-wing podcast host and former Trump adviser Bannon will be released from a federal prison in Connecticut on Tuesday, where he was held after failing to answer on two subpoenas during the chamber’s investigation on January 6.

Bannon, who went from a key architect of the Make America Great Again movement to an official campaign adviser to a popular podcast host, has been a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump but also a divisive and controversial figure. More recently, Trump has also done so made Bannon a symbol for his claims that Democrats are weaponizing the federal government against conservatives.

Now Trump loyalists believe his return could galvanize supporters and encourage his audience to vote. Being in prison didn’t stop Bannon from urging his fans to support Trump in the high-stakes election, but his comeback could reengage an audience that lagged during his absence.

“The stakes have never been higher; this is the opportunity to take back control. We don’t just fight to win; we are fighting for America’s future,” Bannon wrote in a letter from prison in September. He used the letter to urge conservatives to “engage” with voters to “motivate them to cast their ballots.” He continued, saying, “With relentless effort and personal contact, they will break our way.”

Those closest to Bannon saw his indictment and imprisonment as part of a broader Biden administration effort to weaponize the federal government against conservatives. In Bannon’s case, his daughter believes the Justice Department wanted to silence him ahead of an important election by imprisoning him and delaying an early release.

“It’s clear to me that they’re trying to keep my dad illegally incarcerated because at this point he’s eligible for release,” Maureen said on “John Solomon reports” podcast last week. “So this is an illegal detention to keep him quiet before the most crucial election of our lifetime.

“They want to keep such an influential voice in this movement silenced, or what they think is silenced, because he’s still having his voice heard, but they’re trying to do everything they can to keep him until the last possible moment.” she added.

Indeed, Bannon’s podcast—”The war room“—suffered during his absenceaccording to Podcharts, an analytics firm New York Times reported. Earlier this month, the podcast was ranked 52nd in political podcasts. Before Bannon reported to prison, the show regularly ranked in the top ten.

Trump’s political allies believe Bannon’s return could energize Trump’s base and encourage swing voters. “Steve Bannon is the intellectual leader and general of the MAGA movement,” Trump ally Mike Davis and frequent guest on Bannon’s show added. Times. “Bannon will come out of jail a week before the election like a roaring bull lion.”

Bannon is reportedly due to hold a press conference on Tuesday after his release. Raheem Kassam, a conservative British commentator and close ally of Bannon who has “been in touch with Steve almost every day,” said the podcast host will be “reinvigorated” and will likely work overtime to pick out Trump voters.

Newly revived

“Expect to see a reinvigorated Stephen K. Bannon, more intent than ever to take his fight to the administrative state,” Kassam told NOTES. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see him immediately get on the campaign trail, as well as host his ‘War Room’ show for four hours every day. Every second will count. Every word will matter.”

Natalie Winters, co-host of the Bannons The war room podcast, said all eyes were on the election, and that would be Bannon’s focus.

“Eleven days until Stephen K. Bannon is off,” fills in host Natalie G. Winters said the October 18 edition of the show. “But make no mistake, as I’m sure Stephen K. Bannon would definitely agree with me: The real countdown is not just when Stephen K. Bannon is released from federal prison. The real countdown is to January 20, when retribution—or as we call it in the war room—justice begins.”

Bannon was sent to prison earlier this year to serve a sentence after he was charged and convicted of contempt of Congress after failing to respond to two subpoenas from the January 6 special committee investigating the riot at the Capitol and former President Trump’s actions around the incident. Of note, Eric Holder, US Attorney General under President Obama, was similarly found in contempt for refusing to cooperate with congressional investigations into the “Fast and Furious” scandal, but was never reprimanded or arrested.

Bannon’s trial ended in the summer of 2022 after a jury found him guilty. Bannon had tried to invoke executive privilege to avoid testifying about his conversations with Trump surrounding the Capitol riot, but was largely excluded from citing this during his original trial, his lawyer argued.

Bannon did not immediately report to serve his sentence because a court delayed the sentence while various appeals were pending. A federal appeals court in June denied Bannon’s attempt further delaying his prison sentence, closing his arguments would likely not convince the Supreme Court.

Although he will be released from federal prison, Bannon still faces a case at the state level brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg who charged him with money laundering crimes related to a private fundraising scheme to end construction of Trump’s southern border wall.

Several others connected to Trump’s fundraising efforts have done so already convicted and sentenced for having participated in redirecting funds to personal salaries or participating in the effort. In the waning hours of his first term, Trump had pardoned Bannon for federal crimes, but Bragg later indicted the former adviser at the state level.