Steve Bannon breaks silence after arrest on fraud charges: 'They're not going to shut me down'

Steve Bannon claimed Thursday that his arrest last month was part of a broader "headhunting of high profile political targets" associated with President Trump and vowed to fight the federal indictment that alleges he defrauded hundreds of thousands of people who donated to a fundraising campaign to build a border wall with Mexico.

Speaking against the advice of counsel, Bannon told "Tucker Carlson Tonight" that federal authorities were trying to silence him in an effort to keep him from joining the Trump 2020 campaign -- something he says he had no intention of doing.

"Attorney General Barr said...this is headhunting of high-profile political targets that are associated with President Trump," Bannon alleged. "It's not random that it was four years, almost to the day, that I took over the [Trump 2016] campaign that this indictment came out.

"What these guys wanted to do was criminalize political speech and make sure I didn’t go back to the campaign," Bannon added. "What they messed up is, I was never going back to the campaign. The campaign is in great shape…they are doing a great job and will deliver a victory for President Trump."

The former adviser to Trump and architect of his 2016 campaign pleaded not guilty in federal court in Manhattan after being indicted with three others for their involvement in an online fundraisin... (Read more)

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