Steve Bannon is now a cooperating witness against Donald Trump
Donald Trump had a whole lot of fun stomping on the grave of his former adviser Steve Bannon these past two weeks, but now it’s coming home to roost. Bannon has lost everything, from his political website to his radio gig to his billionaire backer. What happens when someone has nothing left to lose and blames it all on the President of the United States, and he just happens to know all of the President’s dirtiest secrets? We’re now rapidly getting that answer.
Bannon has quickly agreed to testify before Congress, which will take place behind closed doors on Tuesday, about the Trump-Russia scandal. He’s also telling the media that he’s willing to be interviewed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. He’ll be asked to explain what he meant when he characterized Donald Trump Jr’s meeting with the Russians as “treasonous” and when he asserted that Donald Trump knew about the meeting. Bannon will fully cooperate. We know this for certain, because of whom he just hired.
Steve Bannon has hired Bill Burke as his attorney (link). Burke is also the attorney for Reince Priebus and Don McGahn. By definition, the same attorney can only represent multiple clients in the same criminal investigation if the interests of those clients are perfectly aligned without any potential for conflict. Priebus has already given Mueller his personal notes about Trump’s obstruction of justice, meaning he’s a cooperating witness. That means, by definition, that McGahn and Bannon are both cooperating witnesses.
It’s not at all surprising that Steve Bannon, with nothing left to lose and a huge axe to grind against Donald Trump, would quickly run into the arms of Trump-Russia investigators. If Bannon’s own hands are clean in the scandal, he can’t get into trouble. If his own hands are dirty, he can skate on a plea deal if he provides enough incriminating evidence against Trump. It is somewhat surprising, however, that Bannon is telegraphing his intentions so clearly. No wonder Trump in unraveling by the hour.
