Bannon tells Congress he called Trump Tower meeting 'unpatriotic': Sources

By BENJAMIN SIEGEL • Jan 18, 2018, 7:52 PM ET

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon told congressional investigators that the controversial June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign officials and a Russian lawyer promising dirt on Hillary Clinton was “unpatriotic,” an acknowledgement of comments he’s tried to publicly distance himself from, according to sources familiar with his closed-door testimony before the House Intelligence Committee earlier this week.

Bannon, according to “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” by Michael Wolff, said the meeting attended by Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and then campaign chairman Paul Manafort was “treasonous” and “unpatriotic."

“Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad sh--, and I happen to think it’s all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately,” Bannon said, according to Wolff.

He later attempted to walk back the comments, which reportedly angered President Trump, saying in a statement that the eldest Trump son “is both a patriot and a good man,” and that the “treasonous” comments were directed at Manafort.

Two sources familiar with Bannon’s congressional appearance tell ABC News that Bannon stood by his description of the meeting as “unpatriotic,” but told lawmakers his initial description of the meeting as “treasonous” was exaggerated.

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