Bannon Behind Bars?

Update: Steve Bannon has been setenced to 4 months in prison. He will appeal.

The Department of Justice indicted Trump creature and fascist-fancier Steve Bannon for Contempt of Congress after he defied a subpoena compelling his testimony before the January 6th Select Committee. He was convicted back in July. The DOJ has recommended that he receive a six-month prison sentence and a $200,000 fine.

Mr. Bannon dodged the slammer after his previous indictment — for money laundering and conspiracy in defrauding donors to a charity — when he was pardoned by then-president Trump as he was exiting the White House. Unindicted co-conspirator Trump himself was recently subpoenaed by that same Congressional Committee.

More:

“Steve Bannon: justice department urges six-month prison term in contempt case,” Sam Levine, The Guardian

“DOJ seeks 6-month prison sentence for Steve Bannon,” Erin Doherty, Axios

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Steve Bannon is ‘Fascinated by Mussolini’

Steve Bannon granted Nicholas Farrell an interview because he liked Mr. Farrell’s book on Mussolini:

“He was clearly loved by women. He was a guy’s guy. He has all that virility. He also had amazing fashion sense, right, that whole thing with the uniforms. I’m fascinated by Mussolini.”

Benito Mussolini was a populist tabloid newspaper editor before he became Italy’s fascist dictator, and Steve Bannon can relate to that. On the hand, Mr. Bannon isn’t exactly known for his fashion sense.

More:

“‘I’m fascinated by Mussolini,'” Nicholas Farrell, The Spectator

Related:

“Steve Bannon to French far-right: ‘Let them call you racists,'” Jakob Hanke, Politico

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Steve Bannon Exits White House, Re-Enters Netherworld

After calling him “a good man” and “a friend,” President Trump booted Chief Strategist Steve Bannon out of the White House. Not personally; Mr. Trump doesn’t like to get his little hands dirty, so he had hatchet-man John Kelly give Bannon the axe. The Trump Administration isn’t out of trolls, though, since Sebastian Gorka and Stephen Miller still infest the corridors of power [Update: Gorka is out].

Minutes after his paws hit the Pennsylvania Avenue pavement, Mr. Bannon scuttled into the depths of Breitbart News, his old lair, to ready his revenge. Breitbart is now attacking Ivanka, Jared Kushner, H.R. McMaster, and Trump’s new flip-flopped Afghanistan policy. This is what it means to be outside the White House, pissing in.

More:

“Breitbart goes after Trump,” Jonathan Easley, The Hill

Related:

“Breitbart looks for a revival. It may come through war with White House advisers.” Paul Farhi, Washington Post

“Steve Bannon is back at Breitbart. But can his page of rage survive an ad boycott?” Dominic Rushe, The Guardian

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‘Hollywood Steve’ Bannon

Between working as a Goldman Sachs investment banker and haunting the corridors of the Trump White House, Steve Bannon produced 18 films. Three of them explain his plans for presidential power, says Adam Freelander.

More:

“What I Learned Binge-Watching Steve Bannon’s Documentaries,” Adam Wren, Politico

“How Hollywood Remembers Steve Bannon,” Connie Bruck, The New Yorker

Note: Steve Bannon’s filmmaking idol is Leni Riefenstahl.

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Trump White House Seder

On Monday night the Trump Administration held a last-minute Passover Seder at Mar-a-Lago the White House. The holiday commemorates the desperate flight of Jewish refugees from Egypt to Palestine with a symbolic meal of steak with ketchup. Attendees read from the Breitbart Haggadah, which surrounds the names of Moses and Aaron with triple parentheses. Guests of honor included Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka, and the Four Questions were read by Pepe the Frog. It was all very amazing, classy, fantastic, big-league, huge, super-luxurious, terrific, tremendous and unbelievable, and made Passover great again.

Update:

“Donald Trump Skips White House Passover Seder,” Alana Horowitz Satlin, Huffington Post

Related:

“The Kushner Family Passover Haggadah,” Terry Heyman, McSweeney’s

“The president as pharaoh? Trump is turning up in Passover seders.” Julie Zauzmer, Washington Post

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Alt-Right’s Bannon Ousted From National Security Council

Far-Right culture warrior Steve Bannon was bounced off the National Security Council yesterday as national intelligence director Dan Coats and Joint Chiefs chair General Joseph Dunford were to rejoin the grownups on the NSC principals committee. One rumor says Mr. Bannon was only on the NSC to babysit fellow lunatic Michael Flynn, who has since resigned. This move probably means a cleansing apocalyptic nuclear war is less likely the top US security strategy.

General H.R. McMaster, who replaced Mr. Flynn as national security adviser, is said to be behind the change. In a more puzzling move, two former Republican governors with no defense or foreign relations experience, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, were added to the principals committee. A sobering thought: Mr. Perry, who wanted to abolish the department he now heads, is in charge of the country’s nuclear arsenal.

Mr. Bannon still skulks through the corridors of power and may head a shady outfit called the Strategic Initiatives Group.

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If Goebbels and Rasputin Had a Baby ….

President-elect Donald J. Trump has named noted misogynist and anti-semitic racist propagandist Stephen K. Bannon as his Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor. Mr. Bannon’s role will be stalking the corridors of power and whispering in the president’s ear. If Goebbels and Rasputin had a baby, it would grow up to be Steve Bannon.

Not everyone is pleased with this key appointment:

Fear rises that Bannon could bring the ‘alt-right’ into White House,” Katie Glueck, Politico

“White nationalists’ ‘man in the White House’? Bannon appointment provokes angry rebukes,” Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times

“Critics See Stephen Bannon, Trump’s Pick for Strategist, as Voice of Racism,” Michael D. Shear, Maggie Haberman, and Michael S. Schmidt, New York Times

“After Bannon Appointment, Southern Poverty Law Center Steps Up Fight Against Hate,” Marisa Fox-Bevilacqua, Haaretz

“Trump appointment of Bannon raises ‘white nationalist’ fears,” Demetri Sevastopulo and Sam Fleming, Financial Times

“Glenn Beck: Bannon has ‘clear tie’ to white nationalism,” Mark Hensch, The Hill

“Warren: Steve Bannon’s Appointment Shows Trump ‘Embraces Bigotry,'” Kristin Salaky, TPM Livewire

“Anti-Hate Groups Erupt Over Trump’s Latest Hire,” Rob Garver, The Fiscal Times

“Democrats Condemn ‘White Nationalist’ Bannon’s Appointment,” Christina Flom, Roll Call

Others, on the other hand …

“KKK, American Nazi Party praise Trump’s hiring of Bannon,” Tim Devaney, The Hill

“White Nationalists Rejoice at Trump’s Appointment of Breitbart’s Stephen Bannon,” Stephen Piggott, Southern Poverty Law Center

“White nationalists see advocate in Steve Bannon who will hold Trump to his campaign promises,” Andrew Kaczynski and Chris Massie, CNN

“White Nationalists Are Thrilled With Donald Trump’s Pick Of Steve Bannon As Chief Strategist,” Matt Ferner, Huffington Post

“Giddy white nationalists hail Trump choosing Steve Bannon as his ‘minister of propaganda,'” Brad Reed, Raw Story

Related:

“Watchdog Group Alleges Illegal Super PAC Payments To Steve Bannon,” Matt Shuham, TPM Livewire

“What Is The ‘Alt-Right’? A Guide To The White Nationalist Movement Now Leading Conservative Media,” Oliver Willis, Media Matters

“Donald Trump Building Team of Racists,” Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine

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Hot Election News

There is a God, and She has a great sense of humor:

“Steve Bannon, the chief executive officer of Donald Trump’s campaign, literally found his pants on fire during a campaign stop in New Hampshire last month, according to a report in the New York Times.

Bannon, who previously served as the executive chairman of Breitbart News, was traveling with Trump on Oct. 28 when FBI Director James Comey sent a letter to lawmakers alerting them that the bureau found emails potentially ‘pertinent’ to the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server.

While working with other aides to concoct a script for Trump’s teleprompter, Bannon realized that a hot TV light had caused his pants to began to burn.

‘I think my pant leg is on fire,’ said Bannon, according to the New York Times.”

—  “Trump campaign executive’s pants literally caught on fire: report,” Mallory Shelbourne, The Hill [links added]

Related:

“All ‘Pants on Fire!’ statements involving Donald Trump,” Politifact

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