Solution: 75 days before election night, Trump's former "national teacher" Bannon was arrested! What is the political lethality?

  [Global Times-Global Times Reporter Zhao Juehui, Bai Yunyi, Chen Qingqing, Yang Sheng] US President Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon was arrested in New York, US on the 20th local time. He was accused of using the name "We build The "Wall" crowdfunding project deceives a large number of donors and collects money for themselves. Many experts on American issues interviewed by a reporter from the Global Times believe that this incident is related to the upcoming US general election. As the case further ferments, it may produce political lethality as much as the Watergate incident. Add another variable to the election.

  The Beast Daily of the United States quoted Acting Federal Attorney Audrey Strauss for the Southern District of New York in a statement on the 20th, claiming that Bannon and veterans Brian Colfage and Andrew Bardo Rato, Timothy Shea, who wrote for the "Brightbart News", and others received $25 million in donations from the "We Build the Wall" project, "defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors. And lied that all the money would be used to build the border wall.” According to NBC News (NBC), the crowdfunding of “We Build the Wall” started at the end of 2018 and aimed to raise funds directly from the public. Under the opposition of Congress, the US-Mexico border wall was built under Trump's campaign promise.

  NBC said that the person in charge of this project, Colfach, previously claimed that he would not receive compensation from it and that all the funds raised would be used to build the border wall, but the indictment showed that he actually took more than 35 from the donation. Ten thousand dollars were used for private purposes and measures were taken to conceal this. In addition, the indictment stated that a non-profit organization controlled by Bannon received $1 million from donations, some of which were used to cover various personal expenses. Axios News Network of the United States further reported that the money was used by Bannon and others for various personal expenses, including travel, hotels, consumer goods and repayment of personal credit card debts.

  The indictment also shows that in October last year, Bannon and others discovered that their crowdfunding project may be under federal investigation, and took steps to further conceal their actions, including the use of encrypted messages.

  Bannon is the second campaign manager on Trump's 2016 campaign to face criminal charges. In 2018, Manafort, Trump's former campaign manager, was convicted of fraud. According to reports, Bannon is expected to appear in New York Federal Court later on the 20th. He and the other three are each facing charges of conspiracy to telecommunications fraud and conspiracy to launder money, each with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

  When asked about the arrest of former adviser Bannon on the 20th, Trump said, “I haven’t dealt with him for a long time. For Mr. Bannon, this is a sad thing, and it’s also upsetting. Surprised. I don't like that project."

  Alyssa Farah, the White House's director of strategic communications, declined to respond to this matter.

  In the 2016 presidential election, Bannon served as the head of the Trump campaign and is regarded as an important think tank for the latter. In 2017, Bannon served as the White House's Chief Strategist and Senior Advisor to the President in the Trump administration. In August of the same year, Trump removed Bannon from the position of chief strategist. Bannon served as the co-founder of Cambridge Analytica as the vice president of Cambridge Analytica. The company was later involved in a scandal involving the abuse of social platform Facebook data to influence the 2016 US presidential election. At the same time, he was also the far-right website "Brightbart News". "The founder is a white supreme racist.

  In China, Bannon is called "the living fossil of paranoid madness" because his attitude towards China can no longer be described by ordinary hostility. It can be said to be hysterical or even crazy. He once claimed that the Sino-US trade dispute is a "fundamental conflict," and he also clamored to "return China to the third world."

  Lu Xiang, a researcher at the Institute of American Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, analyzed in an interview with a reporter from the Global Times on the 20th that Bannon is likely to have problems through various circumstances. He spends a lot of daily activities but lacks sources of income. The financial situation determines that Bannon is likely to obtain funds through illegal channels.

  This scholar who has been concerned about American politics for a long time believes that the location of the prosecution is "unexpectedly" in New York. Lu Xiang said that because Trump is a New Yorker, most of his activities and those around him are in New York. If there is an illegal act, it is likely to happen in New York. In addition, New York is a "hardcore" Democratic state, and the negative sentiment towards Trump is very heavy, and the judiciary will be affected by such factors.

  Also in New York, the state's attorney general sued the National Rifle Association, the largest gun-owning organization in the United States, on the 6th of this month, demanding its dissolution. Analysts pointed out that the lawsuit was initiated by the Democratic Attorney General of New York State under the control of the Democratic Party, and it was directed against an organization of hard-core Republican supporters. The Rifle Association is also one of the most influential lobby groups in the United States, spending 412 million US dollars in political activities in 2016 alone. This case is considered to be a fierce game between the two parties in the United States.

  There are currently 75 days before the US presidential election scheduled for November 3. Any event may affect the direction of the election. As a key team member who helped Trump win the White House, the prosecution of Bannon is also considered to be inseparable from the general election. Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, said in an interview with a reporter from the Global Times on the 20th that Bannon’s arrest did not rule out the Democratic Party’s “digging holes” and even the operations of internal Republican political opponents.

  Lu Xiang also believes that this incident is related to Trump and the current election. Lu Xiang said that although Bannon has left the White House, he still has inextricable connections with Trump. He is also one of Trump's most important supporters outside the White House. Therefore, Bannon’s fundraising for the border wall is likely to be carried out under the banner of Trump.

  However, due to the fact that the information disclosed by the New York prosecutors and the US media is still relatively small, and the White House has not responded, the "political lethality" of Bannon's arrest is still difficult to predict. Diao Daming, associate professor of the School of International Relations at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times reporter on the 20th that Bannon’s current actions may not directly lead the fire to Trump, but if this has the opportunity to become a fuse "It is possible to dig out more follow-ups through Bannon, such as exposing some unknown things during the 2016 election or the early days of Trump's inauguration."

  "Because American society is now highly divided, the arrest of Bannon is likely to lead to a populist backlash," Jin Canrong, deputy dean of the School of International Relations at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times reporter on the 20th that Bannon has millions. "Fans" of the plan, his followers are likely to be inclined to think that his arrest was a conspiracy, and the white conservative populists are likely to be provoked and react fiercely, thereby adding to the US politics approaching the election. variable.

  "Everyone will pay attention to the following, as the investigation further reveals, to what extent Trump will be involved in the Bannon case. For example, whether the funds raised by Bannon and others are Trump's political goals or even the election. Target service?" Li Haidong said that once this can be confirmed, this incident will produce "huge lethality", even no less than another "Watergate Incident."