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**SEPTEMBER 9, 2022**
Kuttner on TAP
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**** Bannon in Custody
This time, there's nobody to pardon him.
Donald Trump's mentor Steve Bannon turned himself in yesterday. He is
being charged with a sleazy swindle in which he ripped off supporters of
Trump's wall, who thought they were donating private funds to extend
the border barrier. In fact, according to prosecutors, upwards of
$300,000 went into Bannon's own pocket.
Trump pardoned his old pal for this scam, but under New York law
separate charges may be brought without exposing the defendant to double
jeopardy, and presidential pardons do not cover state prosecutions.
All of this put me in mind of my own Bannon adventure back in August
2017, when Bannon phoned me out of the blue to discuss China policy,
which led to an interview that got Bannon fired from the White House and
produced my proverbial 15 minutes of fame (actually about three days).
I was on vacation at the time in Lenox, Massachusetts. I got an email
from Bannon's office saying that Bannon had read a column of mine on
China and wanted to invite me to the White House to talk. I responded
that I was on vacation but I'd be happy to speak with Bannon by phone.
A few minutes later, the phone rang. I hit record. Bannon never bothered
to put the conversation off the record.
Bannon, whom I'd never met, spoke as if we were longtime soulmates. In
the course of a half-hour interview, he managed to say several insulting
things about his boss. He also candidly discussed his efforts to use
race and racism to bait Democrats into leading with identity politics.
I asked an intern to transcribe the interview. The last words on the
transcription are me saying, "Holy F**k!"
We ran my story the next day: "Steve Bannon, Unrepentant
." It was
front-page news. The day after that, Trump fired Bannon.
But that's not the best part. After he left the White House, Bannon
went back into wild-man freelance mode. He seemed to be having a great
time. So I phoned him and said, "I think I did you a favor."
Bannon agreed. He invited me to come see him at his townhouse, and I
did. He soon went back to advising Trump informally. Amazingly, Bannon
forgave me and Trump forgave Bannon-because we might be useful again.
Reflecting on Bannon and Trump, I draw two conclusions. First, they are
drawn to each other as fellow opportunists and low-level grifters. Trump
is raising money for himself off of his legal troubles; Bannon scammed
supporters of Trump's wall.
Second, Bannon and Trump are the ultimate cynics. I think of the famous
observation of Lord Palmerston
to the House of Commons, which historians simplify as "No permanent
friends, no permanent enemies, only permanent interests." Or as W.C.
Fields put it, "Never give a sucker an even break."
Now, Bannon may precede Trump to the slammer. Maybe they can share a
cell and discuss old times.
~ ROBERT KUTTNER
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