Steve Bannon Turns Himself in After Federal Grand Jury Indictment: 'This Is All Noise'

The former Trump adviser spoke to reporters gathered outside the FBI office where he surrendered to federal authorities Monday

Steve Bannon. Photo: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Steve Bannon surrendered to the FBI on Monday, just days after he was indicted by a federal grand jury on contempt of Congress charges for failing to comply with a subpoena issued by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The 67-year-old former top aide to former President Donald Trump arrived at the FBI Washington field office shortly after 9:30 a.m., where he addressed reporters outside.

"We're taking down the Biden regime," Bannon claimed to reporters, just before he was taken into FBI custody.

He added a message to his supporters: "I want you guys to stay focused, stay on message. Remember, signal not noise. This is all noise."

Steve Bannon. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Prior to turning himself in on Monday, Bannon also addressed his own followers on social media, going live to say, ""I don't want anybody to take their eye off the ball from what we do every day, OK," CNN reports.

The Justice Department announced two counts against Bannon last Friday — one for refusing to sit for a deposition and another for refusing to provide the committee with relevant documents.

Each count of contempt of Congress carries a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of one year in jail, as well as a fine of $100 to $1,000, the Justice Department said.

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Bannon — who left his role as Trump's White House strategist in Aug. 2017 but eventually moved back in to the former president's good graces — was among the first four witnesses in Trump's inner circle to be subpoenaed by the committee.

In a letter sent to Bannon Sept. 23, the committee said it has reason to believe the former White House strategist has relevant information on "important activities that led to and informed" the Jan. 6 insurrection, including his comments on Jan. 5 that "all hell is going to break loose tomorrow."

Bannon was directed to produce documents by Oct. 7 and appear for a deposition a week later but missed those deadlines, according to the Justice Department.

The Jan. 6 committee, led by Chairman Bennie G. Thompson, later voted unanimously to recommend criminal contempt charges for Bannon in October; and the full House followed suit.

Prosecutors presented the indictment and an arrest warrant to a federal magistrate last Friday, CNN reports.

Trump has sued to block the committee from receiving documents from the National Archive as part of its investigation and the committee's demands for information from other high-profile aides of the former president have also been ignored.

Mark Meadows, Trump's former chief of staff, also appeared to miss a recent deadline with the committee.

Speaking to NBC's Meet the Press Sunday, Rep. Adam Schiff said the committee would "move quickly" to refer Meadows for criminal contempt.

"We have been moving very quickly to make these decisions and I'm confident we'll move very quickly with respect to Mr. Meadows also," Schiff said. "But when ultimately witnesses decide, as Meadows has, that they're not even going to bother showing up, that they have that much contempt for the law, then it pretty much forces our hand, and we'll move quickly."