Bannon: Rosenstein should turn over docs on FBI informant

Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon says in a new interview that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should be forced to hand over documents related to the FBI’s use of a top-secret informant to meet with advisers to President Trump’s campaign.

If Rosenstein declines to hand over the documents after being ordered to do so, Bannon said, he should be fired.

“You turn over every document, and if he doesn’t turn it over, you give him 24 hours. If he doesn’t turn it over, I would fire him, and that’s not obstruction of justice,” Bannon told CNN in an interview set to air on Sunday.

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“That’s giving a law enforcement officer a direct order to turn over documents to Capitol Hill, and if he doesn’t do it, I would fire him,” he said. 

Trump and his allies have claimed in recent weeks that the FBI planted a spy in his campaign, and have sought records related to the use of the top-secret source, who has been identified in media reports as American academic Stefan Halper.

No evidence has emerged that the FBI improperly spied on Trump’s campaign. Halper reportedly met with three campaign advisers in 2016 – George Papadopoulos, Carter Page and Sam Clovis.

In an interview with the BBC last week, Bannon, who left the White House in August, predicted that Rosenstein would be dismissed “very shortly.”

Rosenstein is charged with overseeing the special counsel investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

A select group of lawmakers met last week with top Justice Department officials to discuss the FBI’s use of the informant. One of those lawmakers, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), said he saw no evidence in the briefing to support Trump’s claim that the FBI spied on his campaign.