Former White House adviser Jared Kushner says his onetime colleague, Steve Bannon, threatened to “break [him] in half” if he went “against” him during an argument over the former Breitbart News executive’s leaks to Washington DC reporters.
According to CNN, Mr Kushner made the explosive claim in his forthcoming memoir, Breaking History. The former real estate executive said the threat against him came after he confronted Bannon, who was recently convicted on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress for defying a congressional subpoena, about unflattering leaks he had made regarding then-National Economic Council director Gary Cohn.
He reportedly told Bannon: “Steve, you gotta stop leaking on Gary – we’re trying to build a team here”.
Mr Kushner then writes that Bannon responded that Mr Cohn was the one who was leaking to the press. He said Bannon began to shout and accused him of hurting the then-nascent Trump administration.
“Jared, right now, you're the one undermining the President's agenda … and if you go against me, I will break you in half. Don't f*** with me," Bannon said, according to Mr Kushner.
Mr Kushner also reveals that Bannon threatened him on a different occasion, following a request from then-White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus for Mr Kushner to contact a New York Times reporter in hopes of killing a story about Mr Priebus and Bannon getting kicked off an Air Force One flight to Florida.
He writes that Bannon lost his temper after he phoned the reporter as requested.
"How f***ing 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 Mr Kushner.
A representative for Mr Bannon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Independent
