Are Bannon’s Ongoing Contacts With President Trump Illegal?

[Commentary] The latest news in the saga of Steve Bannon is that the former White House senior adviser has reportedly been pushing President Donald Trump to be more forceful against special counsel Robert Mueller. Bannon’s ideas allegedly include urging President Trump to cut funding for the probe, telling Trump to withhold documents and pressing Trump to bring in more aggressive lawyers. These latest alleged Bannon-Trump communications come on top of other reported contacts between the two since Bannon left the White House. And it all raises serious questions as to whether Bannon is violating federal ethics laws and perhaps other statutes, including those concerning obstruction of justice.

[Norman Eisen is the chairman of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). He was chief White House ethics lawyer for President Barack Obama. Richard Painter is the vice chairman of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). He was chief White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush. Virginia Canter is Executive Branch Ethics Counsel for CREW and served as associate counsel for ethics to both President Obama and President Clinton.]