Trump's new campaign CEO may imagine himself as a honeybadger who "don't give a sh*t" but he's got some problems when it comes to his integrity and dealings with women.
According to a new report in POLITICO, Bannon faced domestic violence charges in 1996 after he manhandled his wife and the mother of his 7-month old twins.
According to the report, they got into an argument over whether she should use a credit card or a check when she went shopping. It escalated from there into a full-blown physical altercation. She spit, he grabbed and hit.
Bannon had gone out to their car, followed by his then-wife, the report says. She then 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."
"[REDACTED] said Mr. Bannon grabbed at neck, also pulling her into the car. 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,” the report states.
Anyone who has ever witnessed abuse or been abused themselves knows what happens next. It escalates into a verbal and physical brawl, which this one did.
The ex-wife then entered the house and said she was calling 911. She was dialing the number when, the report states, Bannon “jumped over her and the twins to grab the phone from her. Once he got the phone, he threw it across the room,” and then left the house.
"[REDACTED] found the phone in several pieces and could not use it. She complained of soreness to her neck. I saw red marks on her left wrist and the right side of her neck. These were photographed,” the police report states, adding that the ex-wife declined an emergency protective order.
Throwing the phone is a classic tactic. You can't call the cops if your phone goes dead. Apparently she was able to get the 911 call connected before he killed the phone, which is why the police responded.
Sadly, this report is all too believable, given his swaggering demeanor and bullying ways.
But there's more. Because when it comes to Breitbart types, there's always more.
As it turns out, Steve Bannon is registered to vote in Florida, according to a report in The Guardian However, the address of his voter registration goes to an empty house where he does not live. In fact, the house is slated to be demolished to make way for new development. He had originally bought the house for his ex-wife, Tea Party activist Diane Clohesy, who is not the same ex-wife mentioned above in the domestic violence charges.
Honeybadger may not give a sh*t, but those family voters types might want to have a second look. Just sayin'.
Update: The Guardian now reports that Bannon has moved his Florida registration to the home of a Breitbart writer.
Stephen Bannon is now registered to vote at the Florida house of Andy Badolato, who reports for Breitbart News and has worked with Bannon in the past on the production of political films.
According to public records, Badolato, 52, and two of his adult sons are also registered to vote at the property, which he co-owns with his ex-wife.
Florida law does require that voters are both registered and living in the counties where they register. According to that Guardian article, Bannon does not live at the home.
However, Bannon's non-profit wingnut welfare organization, the Government Accountability Institute, is based in Florida. That's the organization that funded "Clinton Cash" under the supervision of none other than Stephen Bannon, funded by Robert and Rebekah Mercer, the Koch-managed Donors' Trust, and others.
None of this necessarily leads to the conclusion that he has actually committed voter fraud. To prove that, one would have to prove that he voted in Florida under that registration, and that does not appear to be the case. At best, it might be registration fraud. Might be. Not necessarily is.
It's actually more likely that Bannon maintained the Florida residence not so much to vote, but to dodge taxes.
Acquiring Florida residency is often attractive to outsiders to the state due to Florida’s lack of state income tax. This allows people with a residency to legally avoid paying state income tax on so-called “unearned” income, such as dividends, interests and retirement benefits. Attorneys often advise people seeking Florida residency that it helps to assign their voter registration to a property in the state.
