Steve Bannon is a paid foreign agent of the Egyptian government
Earlier this month Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn admitted that he had been a paid foreign agent of the government of Turkey while he was working for the Trump campaign. Then Monica Crowley, who was nearly named Trump’s Deputy National Security Adviser, acknowledged she’s a paid pro-Kremlin foreign agent (link). Now, according to the Daily Beast and USA Today, Trump’s White House Chief Strategist is accused of having been a paid foreign agent of Egypt.
It’s long been documented that back when Steve Bannon was still running the propaganda site Breitbart, it was renting basement office space in Washington DC from former Egyptian politician Moustafa El-Gindy. That in and of itself is not illegal. But now a former employee is alleging that Breitbart received discounted rent on the space in exchange for giving favorable editorial coverage to El-Gindy and his Egyptian political party. This would make Steve Bannon and Breitbart paid foreign agents of Egypt, which is illegal when that status is not registered with the United States government. There is no evidence that Bannon ever registered as a foreign agent, which would make him guilty of the Foreign Agent Registration Act.
The former employee is pointing to multiple instances of Breitbart quoting El-Gindy favorably as a political expert as well as the below-market rent rate. That individual has filed a complaint with the Department of Justice, which the Daily Beast has obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (link). USA Today also has additional reporting on this story (link), and is confirming that Breitbart is now looking to move out of the space it had been renting from the Egyptian politician. Contribute to Palmer Report
