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Steve Bannon’s Refusal to Pay His Bills Is Costing Him Big


Could this be a forecast for Donald Trump?

Jose Pagliery

Thu, March 7, 2024 at 3:31 AM CST·3 min read

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Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty
Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty
  • For two years, Steve Bannon has refused to pay the half-million dollars he owes his former lawyer. Now, his refusal to settle his debts has exposed him and his current attorney to potential sanctions.

“Bannon, with the aid of his counsel, has, for months, done nothing but intentionally stall and delay plaintiff’s enforcement of its valid money judgment,” the law firm that previously represented him wrote to a New York state judge last month, employing an underline to show their heightened frustration.

Bannon, who was once Donald Trump’s White House chief strategist and played an active role in the former president’s Jan. 6 coup attempt, is already trapped in a precarious position. He’s a convict trying to avoid serving his four-month prison sentence for ignoring a congressional subpoena that sought to question him over his role in the MAGA insurrection. And the Manhattan District Attorney is putting him on trial in May for duping nativist donors to “We Build The Wall” who wanted to support a privately built U.S.-Mexico border barrier.

But now he’s making it even worse on himself.

It’s been seven months since a New York state judge ordered the conspiracy-spewing right-wing political agitator to pay the $484,197 he owed the defense lawyer he stiffed, Bob Costello.

Steve Bannon Admits Bank Account May Have Evidence of Fraud

But since then, according to court filings, Bannon has been dodging the ordered judgment and ignoring follow-up subpoenas. That has put the aggrieved New York City law firm of Davidoff Hutcher and Citron in the awkward position of asking the judge to intervene yet again, citing what they called “a last ditch effort concocted by Bannon to game this court.”

In its attempt to get a readout of Bannon’s personal finances and his ability to pay the bill, the law firm tried to question him under oath and sent subpoenas to learn more about his businesses and what’s in his personal bank accounts. Emails show that Bannon’s new lawyer, Harlan Protass, initially agreed in November to schedule a deposition and turn over materials—provided that they first sign a “simple and straightforward” confidentiality agreement.

But as the months went by, nothing happened.

Then, in January, Bannon suddenly put up resistance and claimed he couldn’t possibly answer questions or turn over bank records. Doing so would potentially reveal evidence of fraud that could ruin his attempt to overturn his federal conviction or even bolster the Manhattan DA’s case.

“DHC’s taking of post-judgment discovery from Mr. Bannon poses a significant risk of compromising Mr. Bannon’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination,” Protass wrote in court filings.

It was an unwelcome surprise. On Feb. 6, Costello’s law firm told the judge that Protass has been toying with them and engaging in “a feeble attempt at stalling.” Joseph N. Polito, a senior counsel at Costello’s firm, wrote that the excuse “is beyond any and all logic.”

Steve Bannon’s Lawyer Sues Him Over Unpaid Bills

Polito then took the relatively rare and aggressive approach of asking that New York Supreme Court Justice Arlene P. Bluth hit the right-wing influencer and his lawyer each with $10,000 sanctions—the highest allowable fine “for engaging in intentional dilatory litigation tactics.”

“Bannon’s intentional bad faith conduct has left plaintiff with no other choice but to seek civil contempt and sanctions. Without this relief, Bannon will be further emboldened to continue his dilatory tactics that have, and continue to, severely prejudice plaintiff in its efforts to satisfy the substantial money judgment that remains outstanding,” Polito wrote.

But Polito went even further, asking the judge to also tack on the cost he incurred “for having to address Bannon’s frivolity,” an eloquent insult used to describe the hours he’s wasted chasing down the conservative media figure.

Protass did not respond to a request for comment, but he is expected to file a formal reply in court records later this week. Polito did not reply to an email asking about the case.

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Trump claims divine authority and threatens dictatorship in escalating rhetoric.


Donald Trump’s recent public proclamations, in which he presents himself as a godly figure and explicitly threatens to behave like a dictator if re-elected, have raised concerns among experts and observers.

Trump’s behavior is indicative of what experts call a “God complex”, a deep-seated belief in one’s own infallibility and superiority. This is a classic element of a cult and a key ingredient of why and how Trumpism works among his followers. In this context, the profane and the sacred are conflated in the same way as the Nazis did.

This isn’t the initial instance of Donald Trump asserting divine authority. Over the past seven years, Trump has consistently professed to possess clandestine and omnipotent wisdom, urging his supporters to have faith in him over facts, reality, or anyone else. He purports to hold knowledge beyond anyone else’s grasp, makes daring future forecasts akin to a mystic or psychic, and overall maintains a belief in his omnipotence, considering himself beyond the law and any form of accountability.

During a speech in Iowa last weekend, Trump told his MAGA cultists that, “But I think if you had a real election and Jesus came down and God came down and said, ‘I’m going to be the scorekeeper here,’ I think we’d win there [in California], I think we’d win in Illinois, and I think we’d win in New York.”

Trump’s “narcissistic injury” following his loss in the 2020 election to President Joe Biden has escalated into a more severe threat to American democracy, as per psychology experts. His recent remarks about targeting judges, pardoning the traitorous individuals from Jan. 6, and removing his ‘enemies’ are not novel concepts, but rather indicate that his veneer of decency and normality is eroding under the pressure of being answerable for his actions for the first time in his life.

“Mr. Trump is an obvious and severe sociopath, an antisocial person lacking the capacity for honesty, empathy or respect for the rule of law,” said an anonymous psychology expert, who added that Trump’s mental illness made him dangerous, especially as his legal problems grow worse.

As Trump faces mounting pressure from his criminal and civil trials, he is now publicly declaring himself as the Chosen One, chosen by “god” and “Jesus Christ” to be the next President of the United States. This marks a notable departure from his previous rhetoric and raises concerns about his mental state and the potential influence on his followers and the wider political landscape.

The implications of Trump’s behavior are far-reaching. His claims to be god-like are terrifying on their own but made much worse by the rapidly deteriorating democracy crisis. His endless self-centered drive for power at any cost makes him an extreme risk of discarding democracy in favor of his personal rule.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that Trump’s followers appear to be buying into his narrative. For them, Trump does not come from the normal political system, he comes from the world they come from, he’s been hugely successful, he’s enormously flawed, but who gives a damn, he’s chosen to turn the political system upside down and make it work for them.

As the country grapples with these developments, it is clear that the situation is fluid and evolving. The full impact of Trump’s rhetoric and behavior remains to be seen.

Think Biden’s doing badly? Check out the polling for these other Western leaders


David Lauter

Sun, December 17, 2023 at 4:33 PM CST·6 min read    

President Biden’s standing in polls is bad — generating panic among many Democrats and a raft of theories about what’s wrong.

He’s too conservative, say progressives; too liberal, according to centrists.

And, of course, nearly everyone mentions his age.

But what if all of that misses the real story? What if the main problem Biden faces isn’t Biden at all?

Biden is 81. No question that’s a problem politically. But if age were the sole driver of poll standing, what would explain the position of 51-year-old Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau? His current approval rating — 31%, according to Canada’s Angus Reid Institute — makes Biden’s 38% in the FiveThirtyEight.com average of polls look almost balmy.

One could argue that Trudeau is a special case: He recently began his ninth year in office and may have worn out his welcome.

But if so, what is there to say about British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak? He’s been in office barely a year, and just 21% of Britons are satisfied with the job he’s doing, according to the latest Ipsos poll. The opposition Labor Party leads Sunak’s Conservatives 41%-24% in a hypothetical look at the next British election, which Sunak must call by January 2025.

Maybe Sunak’s problem is that his party has run out of steam after 13 years in power under five prime ministers. But that wouldn’t explain the travails of Germany’s Olaf Scholz. The governing coalition of his Social Democratic party, the Green party and the Free Democrats took power just two years ago. Only 17% of Germans approve of how they are doing, according to a new poll by Germany’s public broadcasting network.

Scholz, of course, suffers from the fallout of the war in Ukraine, which has strained his coalition and driven up prices in Germany. But that doesn’t explain the poor position of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, whose approval rating dropped this week to a new low of 17%.

I could go on, but by now, the point should be clear: Around the world, leaders of wealthy, developed nations are struggling with poor approval ratings. For each one, there are individual factors often cited to explain their problems — age, lengthy tenure, domestic policy disagreements, a financial scandal in Japan. Those factors are all real and have an impact.

But stand back and look at the overall pattern, and it’s hard not to conclude that something larger is at work.

A similar pattern emerges if we look at the approval ratings of presidents over the last 70 years.

Starting with President Eisenhower and running through President George H.W. Bush, American leaders for 40 years spent most of their tenure with approval ratings above 50%. The periods when presidents dropped below 50% corresponded to major national traumas — escalation of the Vietnam War in the last few years of President Johnson’s tenure, the Watergate scandal for President Nixon and the Iran hostage crisis for President Carter.

The last 20 years — since President George W. Bush’s reelection in 2004 — shows the mirror image: Except for brief periods, including honeymoons at the beginning of their tenures, none of the presidents since then have popped above 50% for a sustained time. President Trump never got majority approval in his entire four years in office; Biden was above 50% for his initial months but soon dropped below.

As with the international comparison, one can pick out individual reasons why each president has failed to gain majority support, but the persistent pattern suggests a larger explanation.

The potential explanation isn’t a secret: Presidents like Eisenhower enjoyed majority approval during a period of sustained and widely shared economic growth that raised living standards for most Americans. Not long after that persistent growth gave way to income stagnation and rising inequality, the comfortable approval ratings for presidents became a thing of the past.

Globally, middle-income countries have seen big increases in living standards in the last couple of decades, and abject poverty around the world has declined a lot, but average living standards in many wealthy countries have plateaued.

Income stagnation isn’t the only problem wealthy countries have faced. High levels of immigration have brought enormous benefits and dynamism but have also increased social tension. Countries such as Japan, which resisted immigration, have suffered from rapid aging of their populations as birthrates declined. Changing gender roles and cultural diversity have brought more equality — and backlashes.

Those factors contributed to a sharp decline in the belief that political leaders are looking out for the interests of average citizens.

Trust in government has fallen in the U.S. as the share of Americans who think the country is on the wrong track rose, and partisan lines have hardened. All that leads to lower job approval for presidents.

Layer on top of that the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. As I wrote recently, a lot of Americans have tried to put the pandemic behind them and have stopped talking about it. But the trauma it caused worldwide won’t go away so easily: We remain a society in recovery.

The fact that Biden shares his unpopularity with other leaders doesn’t make his difficulties any less real. The comparison with others should, however, make people a bit more skeptical of the belief that some other Democrat would do significantly better. If the underlying reality in all these countries is that unhappy voters punish whichever party is in power, then replacing Biden with someone else won’t necessarily solve anything.

Nonetheless, Biden does face serious difficulties, as the numbers from a new survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center show.

In GOP Contest, Trump Supporters Stand Out for Dislike of CompromisePew Research CenterDonald Trump has a wide lead for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination. His supporters stand out from R…

In Pew’s survey, just one-third of Americans approved of Biden’s job performance, and 64% disapproved. His standing has dropped significantly since the beginning of the year, especially among his fellow Democrats: Biden’s approval within his party has dropped from 73% late last year to just 61% now, Pew found.

Restiveness on the left — over the Israel-Hamas war, in particular — has gotten a lot of attention, but the Pew numbers suggest that’s not the main source of Biden’s troubles. Among Democrats who describe themselves as liberal, 66% approve of his performance; among those who identify as moderate or conservative 57% do.

Former President Obama went through a similar, although less deep, decline in support among fellow Democrats at this point in his presidency. He succeeded in rallying Democrats, in part by depicting his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, as a plutocrat unsympathetic to the problems of ordinary Americans.

White House aides have made no secret of their plan to try to do likewise by focusing voters on Trump’s faults, and the former president has a knack for reminding voters of what they dislike about him. Once he’s more consistently in the spotlight, that’s likely to make a difference.

But Biden and his allies shouldn’t count on incumbency, itself, to deliver a victory: These days, it’s no longer clear that it’s even an advantage.

Michelle Obama on 2016 election


Michelle Obama on 2016 election: ‘What is going on in our heads where we let that happen’
Brooke Seipel 8 hrs ago

© Provided by The Hill
Michelle Obama on Saturday discussed the 2016 presidential election at the United State of Women summit, during which she said she is still reflecting on the outcome and asking how “we let that happen.”
“In light of this last election, I’m concerned about us as women and how we think,” she said at the event. “What is going on in our heads where we let that happen, you know?”
The former first lady was discussing encouraging young women to dream big, and how to reflect on standards for women after Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton lost the election and the United States didn’t elect its first woman president.

“When the most qualified person running was a woman, and look what we did instead, I mean that says something about where we are,” Obama said. “That’s what we have to explore, because if we as women are still suspicious of one another, if we still have this crazy, crazy bar for each other that we don’t have for men… if we’re not comfortable with the notion that a woman could be our president compared to… what, then we have to have those conversations with ourselves as women.”
She went on to add that she wished “girls could fail as bad as men do and still be ok.”
“Watching men fail up is frustrating. It is frustrating watching men blow it, and win,” she later added while discussing standards for women.
During her discussion as the keynote speaker at the United State of Women summit, Obama also touched on the importance of education for women and encouraging young girls to speak their minds.
The United State of Women describes itself on its website as a “national organization for any woman who sees that we need a different America for all women to survive and thrive.”
Thousands of women attended the summit, based in Los Angeles, this weekend which says its goal is to leave women “with new ideas and partners, hands-on training, and the tools and resources they need to make change at all levels.”

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Criminals In Suits


The beginning of the war on Americans is about to start. The Ruling administration will show us what the previously seeming anti everything Congress can do for us or to us. The rhetorical time is past and now the actual work should begin. We should remember that the buzzwords do not always translate into action due to existing systems and laws. Newton’s Third law: “For every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction” pretty well sums up how the government will run for the next several years. There are many non collective ideas in the air in Washington which may or may not land during this administration. The onus is on the Congress to do the work they have avoided for years. The old phrase: “put up or shut up” comes to mind as we now watch the events of government unfold. We as voters have an early opportunity in 2 years to change the tone and possibly the direction of the Congress no matter what party is in power. It is well for us to remember that we (voters) have the power to change our government no matter what the candidates for office tell us. If we just keep tabs on what our elected officials are doing, we have the ability to keep government honest(?). A point to remember is that Criminals wear suits too.

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Gear Up For Change


The beginning of a change has begun. The recent elections have brought protests across the country but more important is the reality of a Trump Presidency. There are many things the President can change unilaterally but as many or more that cannot be altered without Congress. The real issues (so to speak) are the statements made during the election, the alt-right and Racist groups emboldened by Trump along with the potential conflicts of interests with Trump’s business interests. It must be made clear that Donald Trump has dealings with  many of the countries that he has listed as the cause of lost jobs in America. The campaign rhetoric is out there and cannot be retracted or altered to suit. The issue now is preparing  or perhaps pushing for change in the Congress. The Congress is the real cause we all need to sign on to. The long serving Congress has the sense that their positions are a calling and not a service position (no difference than hotel worker). It is unfortunate that we cannot fire the Congress without an election where the lies sound good but hide what is really happening.  Look at some of the things our Congress has done to persuade (?) us that they are open and above board: C-Span-there is nothing happening on C-span that is of consequence, the real work ids done in the halls and back offices. You may or may not remember when the issue of cameras in the Senate and House of Representatives, there was much resistance to it by Congressional leaders but eventually the cameras were put in place. With the country satisfied on that issue the Congress went underground to continue doing THEIR business, not OURS. If we as ordinary people cannot see the fallacy of this past election and the gleeful hand wringing   of  a Congress that feels they have a shill to do what they want, then we are already lost. I am stating here and now that my goal is to vote against any politician who cannot definitively tell me what they have done good or bad. Sound bites and politispeak  will not work for me and they should not work for you. Congress should!

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What The Words mean.


The definitions below should be looked at closely and remembered when the so called representatives of the “American People” come to call (usually election time). Taken in context we are not the power behind the throne so to speak. We tend to blame the President for everything because our local electeds tell us to. If we are the power then we need to become n  more informed about the process of governing including the tax system beyond the annual  April “tithing”. Without taxes the country, state and local governments cannot function. How those funds are spent is the bigger issue. First look at what we pay our electeds- These are the people who enacted a law securing their pay with cost of living increases. Their health benefits are better than most. The cost to keep them in Washington or the state capitol is paid by our taxes. Now before picking up the pitchfork, understand that in a unified front voters can change all of that. First step is vote them out or give them a good scare but if we voters do not step up these electeds will continue the practice of putting us in the barrel. Pay particular attention to the last synonym.

re·pub·lic
/rəˈpəblik/
noun
noun: republic; plural noun: republics
a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.

de·moc·ra·cy
/dəˈmäkrəsē
noun
noun: democracy
a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.
“capitalism and democracy are ascendant in the third world”

synonyms: representative government, elective government; More
self-government, government by the people;
republic, commonwealth
antonyms: dictatorship
“a multiparty democracy”

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To The Non Voters


There are many of us who do not vote, have never voted and who are electing not to vote. Voting is the only and best voice you have! That decision to abdicate your right to let you voice be heard is a great boon to the politicians that you so thoroughly dislike. These elected eels dismiss the non voters as unimportant and you feel that your vote does not matter. To explain: unfortunately our 2(?) party system is broken, while we do have a couple of fringe parties, it is not enough that they present different views on the state of the country and by extension the government. If some of us do not vote, their views and yours remain largely hidden and unrepresented. The act of voting has to do with understanding first how Government works (or not) and what effect the action or lack of has on all of us. Politicians who have been in office for a long time will and do say what is required to keep that office, gaining  all the perks they can (or feathering their own nests). Your vote can mean the difference between good government and poor government. You as non voters are relied upon being a constant number  of people whose influence is negligible except as a number  to be subtracted from the general count. In this case you do not exist as a citizen! Forget the electoral college as it has nothing to do with your personal vote YOUR VOTE COUNTS!- I repeat YOUR VOTE COUNTS!. No matter who you support in this Presidential race or any other political race, your voice is your vote and  you need to use it. Good government comes from informed voters.

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A Bit Of Honesty In A Nest Of Lies.


Ted Cruz is at least honest. His speech was met by boo’s and cat calls however he at this point is one of if not the only honest Dupublican in the party. The national party  with great reluctance and reticence fallen in behind the Donald as the candidate for the Presidency. Many of his supporters are single issue voters who seemingly cannot understand what the overall view is and how the single issue vote can bring other problems along that will affect everyone. Ted Cruz (who was called “Lyin’ Ted) spoke with eloquence about his views and while we may not agree with Cruz overall, he has allowed that Donald trump is not the best choice for the party long term. Mr. Cruz is an outsider in Washington and while being radical in a radical party he is at least maintaining his stance on his beliefs. There are several (if not many) Dupublicans who are (distantly) tacitly supporting the nominated candidate for the Presidency. I would like to think these semi supporters are distancing on moral grounds but the reasoning is more about being elected. Our greatest power as voters is first paying attention to these opportunistic office seekers who are no more than fair weather representatives.  These are the office holders who have done nothing for us and continue to cover their poor records with self serving lies and assertions. Politicians who talk about what they have done rather than show it are all suspect and need to be vetted each time they are up for election. Our votes as far as I am concerned are like currency and needs to be spent wisely.

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Reevaluating The Kochs


Recently The Koch’s stated that they are not and would try to stop Trump. The well known backers of outlier Super Pacs have decided to sit this election out in the sense of not backing anyone as the candidates of their personal party of choice are too awful to back. Even these staunch conservative supporters are pushing back against the extreme rhetoric of the Dupublican runners. Is it possible given the people they have supported previously, the Koch’s are not as bad as we think? Yes they have funded super pacs and backed the unfettering of unlimited political funding yet both major party’s have used this unlimited funding to gain or keep elective office. The question arises: Who is worse? the funders or the fundees? Suppose as an extreme unlikelihood, those huge amounts of money were used to build infrastructure, eliminate poverty or provide jobs. Our focus at this time needs to be on who we elect in the smaller elections which will put other people in the State houses and Congress. New people  at each election cycle will over time move the old guard out and show the willingness to vote poor performers out. This is the power that voting has and that power is in the hands of the people.

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