Inside the room: What Steve Bannon told Congress yesterday

Axios ^ | 1/17/2018 | Jonathan Swan

[mojito]

Steve Bannon made one conspicuous slip up in his closed-door hearing on Tuesday with the House Intelligence Committee, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the confidential proceedings. Bannon admitted that he'd had conversations with Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer and legal spokesman Mark Corallo about Don Junior's infamous meeting with the Russians in Trump Tower in June 2016.

Why it matters: The meeting — and the subsequent drafting of a misleading statement on Air Force One — has become one of the most important focal points of the Russia investigations, both on Capitol Hill and within Robert Mueller's team, because it provides the closest thing that exists to evidence that the Trump campaign was willing to entertain collusion with Russians.

Bannon immediately realized he'd slipped up and disclosed conversations he wasn't supposed to discuss, because they happened while he was chief strategist in the White House. Throughout the rest of the session, committee members — in particular Republican Trey Gowdy and Democrat Adam Schiff — hammered Bannon over the fact that he'd mentioned those conversations but refused to discuss anything else about his time in the White House.

[mojito]

"...because it provides the closest thing that exists to evidence...."

It's the closest thing we have to evidence; too bad that it really doesn't amount to anything even close to evidence.

This idiotic "misleading statement" on Air Force One is a press release the Trump people drafted after the NYSlimes disclosed the Don Jr. Trump Tower meeting with the Russian lawyer/Fusion GPS lady. To tell the truth, I don't even know if this "misleading statement" was ever actually released to the press.

Oh, but just one guess as to who may have leaked this all to Axios?

[mojito]

Hey, here's a guess:

The WH didn't want Bannon answering questions about the transition or his time in the WH because they KNEW that the “confidential” testimony would be leaked in two seconds and spun to make Trump look bad.

And surprise, surprise, surprise....

[Ann Archy]

Slimy Adam Shiftless.

[HombreSecreto]

Wonder if Bannon did this on purpose.

[mojito]

Wonder if Bannon did this on purpose.

Possibly. The stories are that he'll talk with Mueller and answer all questions, so it's possible that he let this "slip" now, if this is the most "damaging" thing he knows, rather than waiting and have this come out from a Mueller leak. I don't see how it amounts to anything - people in the WH would certainly talk about the Don Jr. story and how to respond to it. And the reason he was asked about it is because both the committee and Mueller have all the WH communications and emails, so they've already seen the "evidence" of "collusion."

[Leep]

Durbin was there I hope.

[Snowybear]

Axios, fake news.

[Jacquerie]

<>Slimy Adam Shiftless.<> Yes, the loathsome Schiff and others, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the confidential proceedings. This kind of gotcha' won't end until The Beast is subject to the same treatment.

[Basket_of_Deplorables]

Gowdy IS swamp. And Bannon....jeeze.

Trump’s gonna have a cow.

[Golden Eagle]

Impossible to know if it’s true. But if it is, it doesn’t speak highly of Gowdy, in my opinion, who comes off as an establisment creep:

Trey Gowdy, who led the Republican questioning, pressed Bannon hard on his description of Don Junior’s Trump Tower meeting as “treasonous.” Gowdy asked Bannon whether he would consider it treason for somebody close to him to approach Wikileaks’ Julian Assange to get opposition research on Hillary Clinton. Bannon replied that such a scenario would be bad judgment. Then Gowdy produced emails from a Cambridge Analytica employee — the Trump campaign data firm closely affiliated with Bannon — boasting of just such contacts with Assange. Bannon claimed this was the first time he’d seen these emails (though they’ve been in the news.)

Bannon attacked the Republicans running these congressional committees for choosing to investigate the Trump campaign and Russian sia. He said it was part of an “establishment” plan to try to “nullify” the election result. Gowdy challenged him on that, asking Bannon who is this establishment you refer to who is trying to nullify Trump’s victory? Bannon answered: Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell. Gowdy countered that Bannon couldn’t have it both ways. Was he also referring to Trump confidant Kevin McCarthy — the leader of the Republican House conference — who is surely part of the same Ryan-McConnell “establishment?”

[trebb]

... because it provides the closest thing that exists to evidence that the Trump campaign was willing to entertain collusion with Russians.

So - the best they got is something that proves nothing but might indicate a "willingness" to collude vs. actual collusion - my dental floss carries more weight than the best they got....