The real reason Steve Bannon has suddenly resurfaced

| 2:21 pm EDT August 16, 2020
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Steve Bannon has mostly remained out of public view after he got run out of Donald Trump’s White House, only popping up here and there on occasion. Yet now today he’s suddenly hitting the Fox News circuit and offering a full throated defense of Trump’s reelection bid. So what’s going on?

Given the timing, this one isn’t particularly difficult to parse. Earlier this week the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post reported that the Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee sent a bipartisan letter to the DOJ, accusing Steve Bannon and multiple other Trump associates of having lied under oath during their testimony. This is usually a fairly straightforward felony to prove to a jury, meaning that if Trump loses the election, Bannon is on track to go to prison.

Now that Steve Bannon has learned he’s on track for federal prison, he’s suddenly hopping on Fox News and making sure Donald Trump sees him offering a full-throated endorsement of Trump’s campaign. Bannon is clearly trying to convince Trump to pardon him on his way out the door. Trump’s tweets about Bannon over the past couple years suggest that Trump’s view of Bannon is decidedly mixed. It’s not clear if Bannon can get a pardon out of Trump or not – but it’s clear that he’s now vying for one.