Trump crushes Bannon while Bannon testifies on Russia

After Stephen Bannon was quoted as saying that treason was committed at a meeting between Trump officials and Russians at Trump Tower in New York, Trump moved to crush him with the aggression and cruelty that is a hallmark of the Trump presidency.

One can understand Trump’s anger after Bannon’s earthshaking quotes were published in Michael Wolff’s game-changing book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.” Bannon charged treason, one of the gravest crimes an American can commit, about a meeting including Trump’s son, son-in-law and former campaign manager in a building Trump owns.

{mosads}Viewed on the surface, Trump’s scorched-earth attack against Bannon was successful, with Bannon departing from Breitbart shortly thereafter and the political world acknowledging that Trump has far more power than Bannon in the world they both inhabit.

However, it is dangerously unwise for the president to attack and seek to destroy someone who will soon be testifying under oath before Congress and — more importantly — before Robert Mueller and his special counsel team about what he knows regarding the investigation that is engulfing this presidency. Trump can crush Bannon in many ways, but he cannot control what Bannon will say to Mueller and Congress.

Whatever one thinks of Bannon’s politics, he is a voracious consumer of information and is very wired into Trump circles. Whatever led Bannon to talk of treason, when he first learned about Russian support of Trump he almost certainly made internal inquiries to learn what was going on.

I have never used the word “treason” to describe Trump, his family or associates, but clearly there are grave matters under criminal investigation. There have already been indictments and plea bargains obtained by Mueller. There will probably be more soon.

Trump’s tactic of cruel attacks against political opponents, his questioning of the patriotism of others, his attempts to destroy their livelihood and careers, may well contribute to a Democratic landslide in the midterm elections. But when applied to a witness in a criminal case involving his presidency, these tactics could be enormously self-destructive.

Here’s the big question as Bannon testifies: Under any circumstances, Stephen Bannon will tell the truth in response to any questions he is directly asked by investigators. Almost certainly, that was always true. It is noteworthy that Bannon’s name has never been invoked as a potential suspect in the Russia case.

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RELATED STORIES FROM THE HILL

• KRISTIN TATE: Media using Trump-Bannon feud as convenient distraction
• SEBASTIAN GORKA: Don’t believe Michael Wolff’s book about Trump if you want the truth
• MARIA CARDONA: ‘Fire and Fury’ confirms what we already knew: Trump is unfit to serve

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As I recently wrote here, it is possible that Bannon or others have been quietly talking to Mueller for some time, playing a confidential role similar to Deep Throat in the Watergate case.  

If Bannon believes that word of the Trump Tower meeting should have been immediately reported to the FBI, as he told Wolff, did he know of any acts that compelled him to report them to the FBI, then or now?

The mega-question today, as Bannon testifies before the House Intelligence Committee and ultimately before Mueller and his special counsel team, is whether Bannon volunteers information about questions he is not asked.

While Bannon’s treason charge in “Fire and Fury” has received the most attention from the media, he was also quoted by Wolff about money laundering, which appears to be a significant target of the Mueller investigation. Bannon will definitely be asked by Mueller, and possibly Congress, exactly what he knows about money laundering that prompted him to make the comments quoted by Wolff.

While Bannon’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee will receive the most immediate attention from the media, the testimony he will ultimately give to Mueller will be far more important. After questioning Bannon about the matters that are known, investigators will almost certainly ask the usual question: “Is there is anything else we should know about?”

Most likely, because the House Intelligence Committee has been so infected by partisan House Republicans, Trump will know what testimony Bannon offers to that committee, as one or more partisan Republicans on the committee will tip the president off.

However, when Mueller and his team ultimately question Trump directly, the president will not know what evidence Bannon did or did not provide to the special counsel team.

This creates potentially grave legal danger to the president, which is why Trump may refuse to be questioned by Mueller and make a full-blown constitutional crisis front page news around the world.

Brent Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), who was chief deputy majority whip of the U.S. House of Representatives. He holds an LLM in international financial law from the London School of Economics.