The White House’s decision to remove chief strategist Steve Bannon from the National Security Council does nothing to answer several lingering questions.
First, there’s the obvious: What was a Wall-Street-guy-turned-Hollywood-producer-turned-Breitbart-News-CEO doing on the council in the first place?
Anonymous White House officials told Bloomberg News Wednesday that Bannon was put on the committee to act as a “check” on retired Gen. Mike Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser.
Flynn resigned from his White House post after it was revealed he had misrepresented his previous communications with Russian officials when Vice President Mike Pence interviewed him. The retired general, who held his post in the Trump administration for only a few weeks, has been swept up in Congress’ ongoing investigation of Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Flynn pitched the Senate Intelligence Committee last week on an immunity deal, but it was rejected.
This leads to the next question: Why did the Trump administration bring on a team member it felt needed to be monitored? And what qualified Bannon for the job of monitoring Flynn?
The Bannon-as-watchdog explanation is thin, especially considering White House officials say the former Breitbart CEO never attended meetings. It’s possible Bannon was really in that role for that reason, but it’s also possible, and perhaps more likely, the Trump team is trying to distance itself from Flynn now the retired general has a big, unpleasant spotlight shining on him.
In case people don’t believe the Flynn story, Bannon himself claimed Wednesday he was put on the council because he was there to “de-operationalize” the NSC.
“[Former national security adviser] Susan Rice operationalized the NSC during the last administration. I was put on to ensure that it was de-operationalized. General McMaster has returned the NSC to its proper function,” he said in a statement.
If you buy that, sure, but it doesn’t do much to explain why there’s a six-week gap between McMaster assuming the gig and the White House taking Bannon off the committee.
The “de-operationalize” bit aside, the thing White House officials were most keen to convey Wednesday was that Bannon was not demoted. Being removed from the committee is “a natural progression rather than a demotion for Bannon,” officials told Bloomberg. “[Bannon] is no longer needed with [national security adviser H.R. McMaster] in charge of the council.”
As part of the reported changeup, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford have been added back to the committee. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has also been put on the NSC.
Bannon will maintain his security clearance, which seems like a decision that also requires some explaining.
The White House is mum for now.
