New Donald Trump Campaign CEO Was Accused Of Domestic Violence

Steve Bannon, the former executive chairman of right-wing Breitbart News who now serves as CEO of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, was once charged with misdemeanor domestic violence, battery and dissuading a witness stemming from a 1996 incident, court documents say.

The alleged altercation with his ex-wife shines a light on a man recently hired to retool Trump's struggling presidential campaign at the 11th hour. In particular, Trump has failed to win over a significant majority of women who see him as untrustworthy, unqualified and biased against women.

The charges against Bannon were eventually dropped when the woman did not appear in court. A spokeswoman for the Trump campaign did not immediately return a Patch request for comment.

On New Year's Day, 1996, an argument broke out between Bannon and his then-wife when she asked to use an American Express card to go shopping, according to a Santa Monica, California, police report posted by Politico. That escalated into a larger argument about the couple's finances and their future together, the report said.

His wife, whose name was redacted from the published report, told Bannon, "that maybe he should find another place to live, that she wanted a divorce," the report said. "[Redacted name] said he laughed at her, and said he would never move out."

Bannon went out to the car, and she followed him, the report said. She spat at him, and Bannon “reached up to her from the driver’s seat of his car and grabbed her left wrist. He pulled her down, as if he was trying to pull [her] into the car, over the door," according to the report.

The wife "said Mr. Bannon grabbed at neck, also pulling her into the car," the report continues. "She said that she started to fight back striking at his face so he would let go of her. After a short period of time she was able to get away from him."

She went inside to call 9-1-1, and Bannon grabbed the phone from her and "threw it across the room," smashing it into pieces, the report said. Police on the scene said they found the shattered phone and "saw red marks on her left wrist and the right side of her neck."

Bannon's wife told police that he had been violent with her in the past.

"In the beginning of their relationship, she said they [had] 3 or 4 argument that became physical and they had been going to counseling," the report said. "There has not been any physical abuse in their arguments for about the past 4 years. [Name redacted] said they have been arguing a lot, but no violence."

Bannon was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence, battery and dissuading a witness after the incident.

The case was dropped, though, after Bannon threatened to sue his ex-wife over the allegations, according to the New York Post, which cited divorce documents. Bannon's attorney told the woman to skip town so she could not be served with the lawsuit, according to the Post.

She left town and did not appear at Bannon's trial for the domestic violence incident. The charges against him were dropped due to witness unavailability, according to Politico.

"The bottom line is he has a great relationship with the twins, he has a great relationship with the ex-wife, he still supports them," Alexandra Preate, a spokeswoman for Bannon, told Politico.

The new revelations could further hinder Trump's standing among women, a group he has struggled to court during the general election season. A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found Hillary Clinton with a 58 to 35-point lead over Trump among women. In the 2012 election, Mitt Romney won 44 percent of the female vote.

Image via Rick Uldrichs, Patch Staff