Steve Bannon and the Mercers are having a really, really bad day
Steve Bannon and his former billionaire backers, Robert and Rebekah Mercer, recently underwent an ugly split after Bannon had a falling out with Donald Trump. Now it turns out Bannon and the Mercers are suddenly finding themselves in the same undesirable boat, thanks to the explosive scandals coming out of a company they all have deep ties to: Cambridge Analytica.
British TV network Channel 4 News has caught Cambridge Analytica executives admitting on camera that they’ve used bribes and Ukrainian sex workers to try to help the political candidates they’ve been working for. This came after the New York Times revealed this weekend that Cambridge Analytica held meetings with Russia and then lied about it (link). Facebook has now banned Cambridge Analytica outright. The voter data firm is suddenly at the center of controversy in the Trump-Russia investigation and the Brexit investigation. So what does this have to do with Bannon and the Mercers? Everything.
Steve Bannon was running Cambridge Analytica until he became the CEO of the Donald Trump campaign. His fingerprints are all over the company and its antics. The Mercers have been bankrolling Cambridge Analytica, even as they were also bankrolling the Trump campaign. Bannon and the Mercers now find themselves in the unenviable position of having to make the case that they weren’t responsible for Cambridge Analytica’s illegal election tactics, and that they didn’t know it was going on. Bannon may have an additional problem.
After the falling out between Steve Bannon and Donald Trump earlier this year, Bannon promptly granted an interview about the Trump-Russia scandal to Special Counsel Robert Mueller. If Bannon knew about Cambridge Analytica’s illegal election activities and he kept it hidden from Mueller, he’ll face felony charges for misleading federal investigators. This could force him to cut a formal plea deal against Trump, if he hasn’t already done so.
