Steve Bannon: Nancy Pelosi's impeachment strategy 'actually quite brilliant'

Savannah Behrmann | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Why a president can be impeached and remain in office Impeaching a U.S. president might not be the be-all-end-all for their career. We explain why this is the case.

WASHINGTON – Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist and Trump's 2016 campaign CEO, said in an interview with CBS News that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s handling of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump is "actually quite brilliant."

“I disagree with her ideologically, but I think Nancy Pelosi is a master at political warfare. I think, strategically, what she has done from their perspective is actually quite brilliant,” he said in the interview.

Bannon elaborated to CBS that Republicans "are not as united on messaging as the Democrats" regarding impeachment, saying a “sense of urgency" among Trump’s allies "is not there today."

Though Bannon had a falling out with Trump, he has continually defended the president, even starting a podcast titled “War Room: Impeachment” aimed at helping the GOP with messaging during the hearings and investigation. His podcast co-hosts include Jason Miller, the former communication director of Trump's campaign in 2016, and Raheem Kassam, a former editor at Breitbart, where Bannon was executive chairman.

Bannon testifies for prosecution at Stone trial Steve Bannon, who served as chief executive of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, told jurors Friday he saw Roger Stone as "an access point" to WikiLeaks, which later released hacked emails damaging to Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign. (Nov. 8)

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Trump has dismissed the need to hire a response team on impeachment. Bannon said Trump isn't focused on the matter because "he's got a day job."

Steve Bannon tells @majorcbs why he thinks President Trump is not focused on an impeachment defense: "He's got a day job" https://t.co/wWAoOnPuGB pic.twitter.com/3voU4GFyw9 — CBS News (@CBSNews) November 12, 2019

Bannon commented on the public hearings, which began Wednesday morning, telling CBS News that those hearings mark the unofficial start for 2020. "You've got to get maniacally focused on how you're going to make this case to the American people, and it's going to start tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.," he said.

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The public phase of the inquiry began with testimonies before the House Intelligence Committee from two career diplomats: Bill Taylor, the top American diplomat in Ukraine, and George Kent, a top State Department official. The committee will hear from former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch on Friday at 9 a.m. EST.

The impeachment inquiry is built upon Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25, when he urged the investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden while withholding nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine. House Democrats contend the move and efforts to conceal it are potentially impeachable offenses.

Trump and Republicans said there was no quid pro quo and the call was "perfect."