Whenever there’s some trouble brewing in the right wing lately, there’s sure to be Steve Bannon lurking somewhere within the mess. Allegedly, he’s a chief instigator, and he’s certainly the guy who pissed off Roger Stone by getting a presidential pardon after being arrested on multiple fraud counts in connection with a Trump donation fund. He also definitely called for Dr. Fauci’s head on a pike, and he seemingly turned against his pal, MyPillow guy Mike Lindell, for failing to “bring the receipts” on voter fraud.
There’s more, though. According to a New York Times profile of veteran journalist Michael Wolff (who’s got a new investigative book, Too Famous, coming out soon), Bannon was all-up with Jeffrey Weinstein prior to his arrest in his sex trafficking scandal. Via Mediaite, the NYT‘s Ben Smith described portions of the book relating to Bannon as a “media trainer” who “advis[ed Epstein] not to share his racist theories on how Black people learn” in transcripts that were acquired by Wolff.
Yikes, and there’s more via the NYT profile:
“Mainly, Mr. Bannon tells Mr. Epstein, he should stick to his message, which is that he is not a pedophile, Smith wrote. “By the end, Mr. Bannon seems impressed. “You’re engaging, you’re not threatening, you’re natural, you’re friendly, you don’t look at all creepy, you’re a sympathetic figure,” he says.
However, Bannon apparently denied that he was doing any media training at all for Epstein. Rather, he claimed to be making a documentary about Epstein (about his “perversions and depravity” being enabled by the powers that be), which runs contrary to how Smith summarizes events while writing, “[I]n the new book, Mr. Wolff relied on transcripts of what Mr. Epstein appears to believe are practice interviews.” So, what, exactly is the truth? While Wolff is staying mum on his sources, there’s a fair chance that Steve Bannon’s involvement in anything is sketchy.
(Via New York Times & Mediaite)