{"id":70622,"date":"2017-04-06T18:47:52","date_gmt":"2017-04-06T22:47:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=70622"},"modified":"2017-04-06T18:47:52","modified_gmt":"2017-04-06T22:47:52","slug":"the-steve-bannon-story-gets-crazier-by-the-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=70622","title":{"rendered":"The Steve Bannon story gets crazier by the day!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steve Bannon Removed From Trump’s National Security Council, Threatened To Quit<\/h2>\n

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ZeroHedge.com<\/p>\n

Update<\/strong><\/em>: as we apended in an earlier post<\/a>, asked if the NSC move was a demotion for Bannon, Pence said “not for Steve, not for Ton. These are very highly valued members of our administration. They’re going to continue to play important policy roles. But I think with H.R. McMaster\u2019s addition as our National Security Advisor \u2013 a man of extraordinary background in the military \u2013 this is just a natural evolution to ensure the National Security Council is organized in a way that best serves the president in resolving and making those difficult decisions,” Pence said.<\/p>\n

That, however, conflicts with what the NYT reported <\/a>this evening, when the newspaper (as usual relying on “a White House official who, like others, insisted on anonymity to discuss internal deliberations”) said that “Bannon resisted the move, even threatening at one point to quit if it went forward<\/strong>… Bannon\u2019s camp denied that he had threatened to resign and spent the day spreading the word that the shift was a natural evolution, not a signal of any diminution of his outsize influence.”<\/p>\n

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\u00a0His allies said privately that Mr. Bannon had been put on the principals committee to keep an eye on Mr. Trump\u2019s first national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, a retired three-star general who lasted just 24 days before being forced out for misleading Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about what he had discussed with Russia\u2019s ambassador. With Mr. Flynn gone, these allies said, there was no need for Mr. Bannon to remain, but they noted that he had kept his security clearance.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Of course, whether the NYT report is trustworthy is just as pertinent.<\/p>\n

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In what the biggest shake-up at the White House since Mike Flynn resigned in February, moments ago Bloomberg reported <\/a>that President Trump has reorganized his National Security Council on Wednesday, removing his chief strategist, Stephen Bannon as well as downgrading the role of his Homeland Security Adviser, Tom Bossert, while elevating national intelligence director, Dan Coats, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, who will again be “regular attendees” of the NSC\u2019s principals committee.<\/p>\n

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According to Reuters, Bannon’s removal from the NSC was seen as a boost to national security adviser H.R. McMaster, who officials said has struggled to work together with Bannon.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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McMASTER has made it clear inside WH that he wants NSC to be non-political, especially as he crafts NSC strategy for admin…<\/p>\n

— Robert Costa (@costareports) April 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n