- Jared Kushner in his upcoming book described Steve Bannon as "toxic" and a constant source of problems.
- Kushner said Bannon blew up on him on more than one occasion.
Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump's son-in-law, in his forthcoming memoir wrote that Steve Bannon was a "toxic" entity in the White House and repeatedly threatened him, per an excerpt of his memoir reported on by CNN.
Bannon, who served as White House chief strategist under Trump, was recently convicted of criminal contempt of Congress after he defied a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Kushner in his book characterized Bannon as a constant source of problems for him.
"Bannon single-handedly caused more problems for me than anyone else in my time in Washington. He probably leaked and lied about me more than everyone else combined. He played dirty and dragged me into the mud of the Russia investigation. But now that he was in trouble, I felt like helping him was the right thing to do," Kushner wrote in the book, "Breaking History: A White House Memoir."
In one instance, Bannon became incensed with Kushner after he spoke to The New York Times at the request of White House chief of staff Reince Priebus in an attempt to squash a story that Trump had booted Preibus and Bannon from Air Force One.
At the time, Trump was apparently upset about Attorney General Jeff Sessions recusing himself from any investigation regarding Russian election interference.
"Why are you coming to Florida for the day? I don't need you there. Stay here," Trump told Priebus and Bannon, according to Kushner.
"There was no reason for Sessions to recuse himself, and this is going to unleash a disaster," Trump said, per Kushner.
Though Trump's chief of staff asked Kushner to contact The Times about the story, Bannon was seemingly enraged with him about it.
"How fucking dare you leak on me? If you leak out on me, I can leak out on you 28 ways from Sunday," Bannon said, according to Kushner's book.
In another case, Kushner said Bannon blew up on him for confronting him about leaking about Gary Cohn, a senior economic advisor to Trump.
"Steve, you gotta stop leaking on Gary," Kushner said to Bannon, according to his book, adding, "We're trying to build a team here."
"Cohn's the one leaking on me," Bannon responded, per Kushner. Bannon then went on to accuse Kushner of "undermining" Trump's agenda.
"'Jared, right now, you're the one undermining the president's agenda,' he continued, his eyes intense and voice escalating into a yell. 'And if you go against me, I will break you in half. Don't fuck with me,'" Kushner wrote of the exchange.