(CNN) Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon released a statement Sunday expressing regret for not responding sooner to comments attributed to him that were critical of Donald Trump Jr. in "Fire and Fury," an explosive new book on President Donald Trump's first year in office. CNN obtained the statement from a source close to Bannon.

In the book, author Michael Wolff quotes Bannon as saying the 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign officials, including Trump Jr. and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and a Russian lawyer purportedly offering damaging information about Hillary Clinton was "treasonous." The book also attributes statements to him denigrating the President.

CNN has not independently verified all the assertions in Wolff's book.

Read the full version of Bannon's statement:

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

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