Fire And Fury: Steve Bannon Blasts 'Inaccurate' Reporting

WASHINGTON, DC — As Michael Wolff's explosive new book, "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House," dominates headlines and flies off the shelves — virtual and real — its key source is expressing regret over his remarks. The book, which went on sale Friday, leans heavily on interviews with President Donald Trump's former adviser Steve Bannon, with whom Trump was furious.

In the book, Bannon described a June 2016 meeting between Trump family members — including Donald Trump Jr. — campaign aides and a Russian lawyer as "treasonous" and "unpatriotic." Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating Russian meddling in the presidential election and has focused on that meeting, about which Wolff quoted Bannon as saying:

"The three senior guys in the campaign thought it was a good idea to meet with a foreign government inside Trump Tower in the conference room on the 25th floor with no lawyers."

He added: "Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad s--t, and I happen to think it's all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately." He also said, "The chance that Don Jr. did not walk these jumos up to his father's office on the twenty-sixth floor is zero."

Bannon was also quoted as saying that Mueller's prosecutors would "crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV.'"

Now, Bannon is regretting his remarks. In a statement Sunday morning to the media site Axios, he said he regrets not responding sooner to what he called "the inaccurate reporting" regarding Donald Trump Jr. and said the book has taken attention away from the president's "historical accomplishments."

Donald Trump, Jr. is "a patriot and a good man," Bannon said, and has been "relentless in his advocacy for his father and the agenda that has helped turn our country around."

Bannon said his comments about the meeting came from his personal experiences as a Naval officer hunting Soviet submarines and during his time at the Pentagon during Ronald Reagan's presidency when they were dedicated to defeating what he called "'the evil empire.'"

"My comments were aimed at Paul Manafort, a seasoned campaign professional with experience and knowledge of how the Russians operate," Bannon said. "He should have known they are duplicitous, cunning and not our friends. To reiterate, those comments were not aimed at Don Jr."

Bannon also insisted there was no collusion and called the investigation "a witch hunt."

In other comments in the statement, Bannon defended the president, saying Trump was the only candidate who could've defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election and said Bannon's support for Trump and Trump's agenda remain "unwavering."

In a tweet on Friday, Donald Trump said Wolff used Bannon, who "cried when he got fired and begged for his job."

Michael Wolff is a total loser who made up stories in order to sell this really boring and untruthful book. He used Sloppy Steve Bannon, who cried when he got fired and begged for his job. Now Sloppy Steve has been dumped like a dog by almost everyone. Too bad! https://t.co/mEeUhk5ZV9
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018

Stephen Miller, the President's senior policy adviser, in a CNN interview on Sunday called Bannon's comments in the book "grotesque," “vindictive,” and "out of touch with reality." He also insisted Bannon's involvement in the administration was “greatly exaggerated."

"With respect to the Trump Tower meeting that he's talking about, he wasn't even there when this went down, so he's not really a remotely credible source on anything," Miller said.

For the entire Axios article, click here.

For more on the incendiary book, click here.

Also See: Michael Wolff Had 'Unfettered Access' To White House

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