Four Trump-pardoned allies thank him with action and loyalty

Four men with criminal charges or convictions who were pardoned by then-President Trump are now getting their 2024 presidential campaigns on track, hoping to exert gravitational pull toward his winning re-election bid. There is. Of the four, Steve Bannon was dramatically pardoned hours before President Trump left office on January 21, 2021, and Roger Stone and Paul Manafort were pardoned on December 23, 2020. received a pardon as a Christmas present. Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn was pardoned in a month. Before.

“Orbiting” means they are not officially part of Trump’s reelection team. But Steve Bannon, Roger Stone, and Michael Flynn have immense influence over Donald Trump, his campaign, and his fervent supporters.

And then a startling news report announced the internationally scandalous re-emergence of Paul Manafort. President Trump’s disgraced first campaign manager of 2016 reportedly had a “potential role” at the Republican National Convention in July and a potential role in Trump’s cash-strapped campaign. He says he is ready to take on the role of a fundraiser.

With Trump’s cult MAGA voters wearing “Make America Great Again” and “Save America Again” hats, the bold, lawless image helps these pardoned people rally among voters. It enhances the ability to serve a legally contested master.

The combative communication styles of Bannon, Stone, and Flynn reflect President Trump’s outrageous claims of victimhood. He has been “robbed” of his 2020 victory and is fighting a “weaponized” Justice Department intent on destroying him and them, at least until they are generously pardoned.

Let’s take a quick look at each person’s impact on Team Trump and his third presidential campaign.

Stephen K. Bannon is the most powerful of the pardon quartet, and “Bannon is the intellectual ringleader of the MAGA circus,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.). declared.It’s Bannon’s fury that proves the point. 2024 CPAC Speech. Next, as MAGA street mantra goes, “Bannon appears to be deeply embroiled in a plan to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power and seize the presidency from Donald Trump,” Raskin told a House committee on Jan. 6. I explained this as a member of the committee.

First, a little history. In mid-August 2016, President Trump’s campaign was floundering under Manafort’s disjointed leadership. Bannon was nominated “Chief Campaign Officer” After Trump’s shock victory, Bannon served as “White House chief strategist” for seven months until his combative and headline-grabbing exit in August 2017.

In August 2020, Bannon and three of his associates were indicted on charges of defrauding crowdfunding donors who gave $25 million to the “We Build the Wall” campaign, a charge that President Trump The federal charges were commuted on the last day of his term. New York state was then indicted in 2022.

Mr. Bannon is also involved, but multiple On hold legal matters And facing prison, his of high rank His podcast “War Room” has made him a media mogul. He succeeded in filling the red media gap left by Rush Limbaugh’s death, and his “angry warrior” MAGA brand left traditional conservatism in the dust.

The “war room” is the name of the game for Trump loyalists like Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (New York). It’s a destination for disinformation. Buoyed by Mr. Bannon’s bombastic master communicator skills, elected officials are able to gush about their enemies and fabricate conspiracy theories to rally support for President Trump while ramping up fundraising efforts.

If Trump wins in 2024, the war room will be praised for its work. pump up And distinguish Trump’s MAGA army from Bannon’s army. “Dismantling the administrative state” The ideological foundations were instrumental in the birth and growth of important political movements.

Roger Stone is a political mastermind notorious for his “dirty tricks,” real or imagined. Mr. Stone’s rocky relationship with Mr. Trump began in the 1980s, when he was the businessman’s first political adviser. Roger’s book, The Making of the President 2016, chronicles his role in Trump’s historic upset over Hillary Clinton. Graphically speaking, the relationship between Trump and Stone has its sharp peaks and deep valleys, but there is an ongoing brotherly bond.

In July 2020, Stone was sentenced After being convicted of witness tampering, interference and lying to Congress regarding 2016 campaign-related activities. When President Trump commuted his sentence and pardoned him in December 2020, Stone was hours away from reporting to a federal correctional facility. Since then, Stone has been treated like a rock star at Republican events.

This week, I asked Stone about his status on Team Trump. He replied: “I have no official or unofficial role in the presidential campaign and I don’t want that. I remain a strong supporter of the president and occasionally speak with him and members of his campaign team on political issues.” . These conversations will remain confidential.”

Stone said he is “more than busy” on various radio shows promoting Trump. Then he added: “When I look at each of these articles, my argument is that [campaign] The involvement is simply based on the fact that I was ‘recently seen at Mar-a-Lago’, what a scumbag. ”

The truth is, Trump and Stone will always have each other’s backs — the source of Stone’s influence — even though Trump has it on speed dial, and Stone deliberately downplays it. are doing.

Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn served as President Trump’s first national security adviser. He had been in office for only 22 days before the ambush. Mr. Flynn was convicted of lying to the FBI about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, a charge for which Mr. Trump pardoned him.he got even more involved International law problem after that.

In Trump’s world, Flynn is a messenger, a folk hero, a victim, a man of God, and… January 6th related events. He is emboldening the Christian nationalist election-denier wing of the Republican Party. Nevertheless, the general’s influence is dwarfed by that of President Trump’s Sergeants Bannon and Stone.

But that could change when Flynn takes office on April 5. National movie tour “Flynn: Let’s tell the truth.” No matter what the cost. ” Does Mr. Flynn’s film “The Truth” justify his advice to Mr. Trump to send in the military to rerun the 2020 election and seize voting machines? Perhaps Flynn will sell Trump’s “God Bless the USA Bibles” along with popcorn so that God can help Trump win and, in turn, return Flynn to the White House.

Finally, there’s Paul Manafort. Currently, his MAGA influence is zero. But if President Trump’s top brass hires him, as some predict, and he is successful, his stock will rise. Mr. Manafort’s rap sheet includes old-fashioned greed, including hiding $55 million in foreign bank accounts, filing false tax returns, defrauding banks, and exploiting pro-Russian Ukrainian customers. is engraved on it, a crime worthy of Trump’s pardon.

Watch these loyal men earn pardons as President Trump’s campaign heats up.

myra adams He served on the creative teams for two Republican presidential campaigns in 2004 and 2008.