On Thursday, former top Trump adviser Steve Bannon was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. The federal criminal charges stemmed from a crowdfunding scheme going by “We Build The Wall,” which, as its name suggests, collected money under the pretext of funding a southern border wall. That’s not where the money went — instead, it went into the pockets of Bannon and his co-conspirators. On Thursday at the White House, reporter Geoff Bennett confronted Trump about the “culture of lawlessness” that surrounds him, since Bannon is one of several former Trump campaign officials to face criminal charges.
Before the reporter even finished their question, Trump cut in:
‘There was great lawlessness in the Obama Administration. They spied on our campaign illegally. And if you look at all of the things, and all of the scandals they had, they had tremendous lawlessness, but I know nothing about — I was not involved in the project. I have no idea who was, but I can tell you, I didn’t know the people. The three people that were talked about were people that I did not know.’
Watch his comments below:
President Trump: "There was great lawlessness in the Obama Administration… They had tremendous lawlessness." pic.twitter.com/OOWfK874VY
— The Hill (@thehill) August 20, 2020
Trump is referring to, it seems, Bannon’s three co-conspirators who were also taken into custody and criminally charged. His concurrent assertion, however, that he has “no idea who was” involved in the project stands in stark contrast to facts like his own long history with Bannon and his long association with some other folks who were connected to the fraudulent effort. Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, for instance, served as the effort’s “General Counsel,” according to their website — and Trump also at one point appointed Kobach to help lead a now defunct federal commission looking into baseless allegations of voter fraud.
Kris Kobach is the general counsel of the Build the Wall PAC that Steve Bannon was just arrested for being involved in as chairman. The advisory board includes Erik Prince, former CO congressman Tom Tancredo, Sheriff Dave Clarke and former pitcher Curt Schilling.
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) August 20, 2020
Also — Trump’s assertion that the Obama administration spied on his campaign is a lie. The Obama administration conducted judicially-supervised surveillance on a former Trump adviser, Carter Page, who at the time of the surveillance was not associated with the Trump campaign.
Meanwhile, on Thursday at the White House, Trump also responded to a Thursday court ruling striking down his legal team’s argument that he should be exempt from a subpoena from Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance for his financial records. Trump belligerently called Vance’s investigation “a continuation of the most disgusting witch hunt in the history of our country,” which is ridiculous. Trump is not being persecuted. He’s being held accountable for his actions.
Watch below:
JUST IN: President @realDonaldTrump responds after federal judge in New York dismisses his latest effort to stymie a grand jury subpoena for his tax returns: "This is a continuation of the most disgusting witch hunt in the history of our country." pic.twitter.com/AwmUPjEvKB
— The Hill (@thehill) August 20, 2020
