Tag: Steve Bannon

Heeding Bannon in Alabama election, Trump gambles and loses

The following article by Josh Dawsey and Ashley Parker was posted on the Washington Post website December 13, 2017:

Democrat Doug Jones on Dec. 12 defeated Republican Roy Moore in Alabama’s U.S. Senate special election. Here were the reactions. (Amber Ferguson/The Washington Post)

President Trump lost in Alabama on Tuesday. Again.

This time, Trump threw his support behind Roy Moore, a polarizing, wounded Republican accused of dating and making sexual advances on teenagers — and found himself presiding over a stunning repudiation of Republicans in the Deep South that could have wide reverberations for his agenda and the party he leads. Continue reading “Heeding Bannon in Alabama election, Trump gambles and loses”

As Russia probes progress, one name is missing: Bannon’s

The following article by Darren Samuelsohn was posted on the Politico website December 11, 2017:

People close to the probe say the former campaign and White House strategist will be a key witness for prosecutors and Hill investigators.

Steve Bannon’s name has surfaced a handful of times in the special counsel and congressional investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images

As special Russia counsel Robert Mueller wraps up interviews with senior current and former White House staff, one name has been conspicuously absent from public chatter surrounding the probe: Steve Bannon.

President Donald Trump’s former White House chief strategist and campaign chief executive played critical roles in episodes that have become central to Mueller’s probe as well as to multiple Hill investigations.

Bannon was a key bystander when Trump decided to fire national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty earlier this month to lying to federal investigators about his contacts with foreign officials. He was among those Trump consulted before firing FBI Director James Comey, whose dismissal prompted Mueller’s appointment — a decision Bannon subsequently described to “60 Minutes” as the biggest mistake “in modern political history.” Continue reading “As Russia probes progress, one name is missing: Bannon’s”

Are Bannon’s Ongoing Contacts With Trump Illegal?

The following article by Norman Eisen, RIchard W. Painter and Virginia Canter was posted on the Politico website November 3, 2017:

Bannon-Trump communications may also run afoul of obstruction of justice and witness tampering laws.

Credit: Evan Vucci/AP Photo

The latest news in the saga of Steve Bannon is that the former White House senior adviser has reportedly been pushing President Donald Trump to be more forceful against special counsel Robert Mueller. Bannon’s ideas allegedly include urging Trump to cut funding for the probe, telling Trump to withhold documents and pressing Trump to bring in more aggressive lawyers. These latest alleged Bannon-Trump communications come on top of other reported contactsbetween the two since Bannon left the White House. And it all raises serious questions as to whether Bannon is violating federal ethics laws and perhaps other statutes, including those concerning obstruction of justice.

Former White House staff members—whether encamped at Breitbart News or anywhere else—are constrained by 18 USC 207, which governs “restrictions on former officers, employees, and elected officials of the executive and legislative branches.” One provision of this statute prohibits former senior executive branch officials from communicating with their former agency for one year on behalf of other persons, whether their current employers, persons who are targets of a government investigation or anyone else. And former very senior White House officials, such as Bannon, are subject to a two-year cooling off period, which bars them not only from making such communications on behalf of others back to White House staff, but also to other very senior people in the government, such as the attorney general—and also the president. Continue reading “Are Bannon’s Ongoing Contacts With Trump Illegal?”

Stephen Bannon’s nervous defense of Trump on Russia is telling

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website September 11, 2017:

Stephen K. Bannon labeled the Russia investigation a “farce” and a “waste of time” during his interview with “60 Minutes” this weekend. But those strong words papered over what was otherwise a pretty nervous and nonsensical defense of President Trump on Russia.

If you watch the video above, you’ll see Bannon repeatedly stumble over his answers to Charlie Rose’s questions. Bannon echoed the Trump White House’s long-running strategy of deflecting on Russia, responding to questions about whether there was interference by saying there was no collusion and that it didn’t have an impact. Both times Bannon tried this, though, Rose called him out for not answering the question. Continue reading “Stephen Bannon’s nervous defense of Trump on Russia is telling”

White House: Steve Bannon Is Out

The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the Roll Call website August 18, 2017:

President’s chief strategist increasingly a lightning rod for criticism

Steve Bannon is out as chief strategist to President Donald Trump. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images file photo)

President Donald Trump has decided to part ways with White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. The former Breitbart executive infused his campaign and presidency with nationalist rhetoric and policies.

“White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve’s last day,” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. “We are grateful for his service and wish him the best.”

Bannon is just the latest senior Trump White House official or Cabinet member to leave the administration. Continue reading “White House: Steve Bannon Is Out”

Bannon and Dunford Remarks Muddle U.S. Strategy for North Korea

The following article by Jane Perlez and Choe Shang-Hun was posted on the New York Times website August 16, 2017:

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, with President Xi Jinping of China in Beijing on Thursday. Credit Pool photo by Andy Wong

BEIJING — The Trump administration plunged America’s Asian alliances into new confusion Thursday with conflicting signals over how to counter North Korea’s nuclear threat, as the chief White House strategist said a military solution was impossible.

Three other leading officials of the administration — its top military general on a visit to China, and its defense secretary and secretary of state in Washington — effectively contradicted him, emphasizing that Mr. Trump was prepared to take military action if necessary.

The mixed messages about North Korea policy added to the sense of disarray coming from the White House, where Mr. Trump appeared to have all but forgotten the crisis a week after he threatened an ad hoc “fire and fury” response to North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, if he menaced the United States. Continue reading “Bannon and Dunford Remarks Muddle U.S. Strategy for North Korea”

Steve Bannon says rivals ‘wetting themselves,’ calls supremacists ‘clowns,’ contradicts Trump on N. Korea

The following article by Derek Hawkins was posted on the Washington Post website August 17, 2017:

Stephen K. Bannon, the White House chief strategist, seemed to take issue with President Trump on North Korea, attacked white supremacists as “clowns” and “losers” and described his efforts against administration rivals in an unusual interview Wednesday with The American Prospect, a progressive magazine.

The interview with magazine co-editor and columnist Robert Kuttner was initiated by Bannon, Kuttner said, in an Anthony Scaramucci-style phone call out of the blue in response to a column Kuttner had written on China. Continue reading “Steve Bannon says rivals ‘wetting themselves,’ calls supremacists ‘clowns,’ contradicts Trump on N. Korea”

Bannon in Limbo as Trump Faces Growing Calls for the Strategist’s Ouster

The following article by Maggie Haberman and Glenn Thrush was posted on the New York Times website August 14, 2017:

Steve Bannon, President Trump’s chief strategist, has been criticized as being emblematic of the far-right nationalism that turned violent in Virginia last weekend. Can he salvage his role in the White House? By A.J. CHAVAR and CHRIS CIRILLO on Publish Date August 14, 2017. Photo by Al Drago/The New York Times.

Rupert Murdoch has repeatedly urged President Trump to fire him. Anthony Scaramucci, the president’s former communications director, thrashed him on television as a white nationalist. Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, the national security adviser, refused to even say he could work with him.

For months, Mr. Trump has considered ousting Stephen K. Bannon, the White House chief strategist and relentless nationalist who ran the Breitbart website and called it a “platform for the alt-right.” Mr. Trump has sent Mr. Bannon to a kind of internal exile, and has not met face-to-face for more than a week with a man who was once a fixture in the Oval Office, according to aides and friends of the president. Continue reading “Bannon in Limbo as Trump Faces Growing Calls for the Strategist’s Ouster”

Trump’s team of ‘apocalyptic geopolitics’ similar to Isis

The following article by Ben Kentish was posted on the Independent site was posted on the Yahoo News site July 14, 2017:

Donald Trump described meeting Pope Francis as the ‘honour of a lifetime’: AFP/Getty ImagesDonald Trump described meeting Pope Francis as the ‘honour of a lifetime’: AFP/Getty Images

Donald Trump’s administration is responsible for promoting an “apocalyptic geopolitics” with roots similar to those of Islamist extremism, two allies of Pope Francis have said.

Writing in La Civilta Cattolica, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Antonio Spadaro, and Marcelo Figueroa, the editor-in-chief of the Argentinian edition of the Vatican newspaper, accused Steve Bannon, the US President’s chief strategist, of being a “supporter of apocalyptic geopolitics” and claimed Mr Trump’s team promote an “evangelical fundamentalism” that twists Christian scripture to promote conflict and war.

Both Mr Spadaro and Mr Figueroa are known to be close associates of the Argentinian pope. La Civilta Cattolica is vetted by the Vatican before being published, meaning the article would have had the approval of church authorities. Continue reading “Trump’s team of ‘apocalyptic geopolitics’ similar to Isis”