It may seem as though Donald Trump’s staffing strategy is one of “hire now, ask questions later” after an unflattering shadow has been cast over the past of his newly-appointed campaign CEO Stephen K. Bannon, whose ex-wife has brought about some revelations of a past domestic violence and anti-Semitism.
According to some 1996 court documents, in February of the same year, his then-wife filed reports against Bannon, accusing him of attacking her in a misdemeanor case that was later dismissed.
A police report outlined the encounter in which Bannon’s ex detailed that during an argument about finances, Bannon grabbed the mother of his then-infant twins by the wrist where she stood, presumably attempting to pull her through the window of the driver’s seat where he sat, adding that he grabbed at her neck until she hit him in the face to get free.
In 1997 when the two split, court filings revealed his ex’s recounting of the day.
“I took the phone to call the police and he grabbed the phone away from me throwing it across the room, and breaking it as he screamed that I was a ‘crazy f—–g c—t,” she detailed.
The case was dismissed after prosecutors say they could not find Bannon’s wife due to what she says was Bannon’s attorneys instructing her to leave town to avoid testifying against him or face the likelihood of them finding a way to make her seem culpable.
Nearly a decade after the couple split, Bannon’s ex-wife also revealed in court documents that he refused to allow his children to allow their Los Angeles-area school because the high population of Jewish students. “He didn’t want the girls going to school with Jews,” she said.
Alexandra Preate, Bannon’s personal spokesperson denounced the claims of anti-Semitism, saying that Stephen Bannon “proudly sent” his daughters to Archer for their middle and high school educations.
“It just undermines any effort they are pursuing to try and soften [Donald Trump] up when he surrounds himself with people like that,” said Katie Packer, a Republican strategist who opposes Trump.
According to Packer, who served as deputy campaign manager for Republican nominee Mitt Romney in 2012, Stephen Bannon would have never made it past their hiring process with the system that the Romney campaign had in place.
With voting scheduled to take place in nearly 11 weeks, Donald Trump’s team faces yet another distraction along the campaign trail, veering off the road in which the GOP would prefer to see Trump–the one where the spotlight is focused on his plans for office rather than his latest misstep.
