WATCH: Steve Bannon Says That He Tried To Boot The Man Believed To Be The Whistleblower From The NSC In 2017
The former White House Chief Strategist says that he had wanted to oust the suspected whistleblower in the first year of President Trump’s term.
Last week, in an extensive interview with Liz Landers of Vice News, Bannon made it clear that he’s still a big Trump fan and isn’t fazed by his new forever name — “Sloppy Steve.” He also discussed impeachment and the whistleblower and says that he had wanted to remove him from the National Security Council in 2017.
Without naming the suspected whistleblower (Eric Ciaramella), Bannon said, “I agree with Ivanka. I don’t think the individual naming of the whistleblower is important, although there was a story in the Washington Times yesterday that tied me to the efforts to get the — at least the gentleman who was named — out of the National Security Council.”
It is possible Bannon was referring to a Washington Examiner article from last week that cited former National Security Council officials who said many on the NSC were suspicious of Ciaramella and believed he may have been responsible for leaking the contents of Trump’s discussions with the leaders of Mexico and Australia in 2017. The sources said former national security adviser H.R. McMaster was unhappy with efforts by Bannon and others to push out Obama holdovers such as Ciaramella, who was criticized by pro-Trump writers in 2017.
When Landers asked whether it was true he had tried to remove Ciaramella, Bannon responded: “The individual that was named? Absolutely true. When I was in the White House, there was a number of people on the National Security Council — the named individual eventually got let go, I believe because people were suspicious, and not me, but other people around him, were suspicious about his leaking, and that’s why he was let go.
“But I believe you don’t need to name the person, OK? But I do believe you need a thorough investigation of his intentions, relationships he’s had, etc.”
(Emphasis Added)
Watch the full interview below. (Relevant comments about impeachment and the whistleblower begins at the 26:25 mark.)
The identity of the whistleblower has not been confirmed, but Eric Ciaramella has been named in several media reports and he has not issued a denial.
Ciaramella was Ukraine director on the National Security Council under President Barack Obama and then worked as acting senior director for European and Russian affairs early in the Trump administration. He worked closely with Vice President Joe Biden and attended a State Department banquet at his invitation in 2016. Ciaramella was cited in a key passage of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report in connection to the May 2017 meeting between Trump and Russian officials in the Oval Office the day after James Comey was fired as FBI director.
Source: Washington Examiner
Democrats have made a big hullabaloo about President Trump leaving vacancies open within his administration for long periods of time while they slow-walk the appointment hearings. Yet, when he doesn’t summarily fire every Obama holdover, this is what happens — leaking and a coup attempt by the Deep State who disagree with his foreign policy and don’t seem to realize that the President is the author of foreign policy and that they serve at his pleasure.
Whatever President Trump chooses to do, the Democrats and the Deep State will do everything that they can to wrench control away from him and take it for themselves. And the Media(D) is so incurious that they are complicit in the coverup.
Related:
- Does The So-Called ‘Whistleblower’s’ Motive Matter? It Sure Would If He Was Obstructing Justice
- BREAKING: ICIG Complaint Alleges Whistleblower Is Soliciting Illegal Donations Through GoFundMe
- Whoops! Did Adam Schiff’s Team Accidentally Publish The Whistleblower’s Name?
- WHISTLEBLOWER REVEALED? Reports Claim To Know REAL Identity Of The Guy Who Started It All
- Flashback: Obama Used The Espionage Act To Go After Whistleblowers More Than All Previous Admins Combined
