Wylie Says Bannon Instructed Putin Messaging Test

News  |  Apr 26, 2018

Christopher Wylie, the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower who met with House Democrats Tuesday and Wednesday, told lawmakers that Steve Bannon steered much of the company's early messaging, and that Cambridge Analytica specifically tested content about Vladimir Putin and Russian expansion at Bannon's directive. 

Bloomberg Politics:

“Cambridge Analytica was set up to be essentially a full-service propaganda machine," Wylie said, according to a partial transcript of Tuesday’s closed-door interview released by House Democrats.

Republicans didn’t participate in the interview of Wylie, conducted by Democrats on the Judiciary and the Oversight and Government Reform committees. Wylie also met on Wednesday with House Intelligence Committee Democrats.

USA Today

Democrats from the House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee asked Wylie in a closed-door session on Tuesday whether Bannon had specifically talked about voter disenfranchisement or disengagement.

"Yes," Wylie responded, according to the transcript released by the Democrats. "If by that term you mean discouraging particular types of voters who are more prone to voting for Democratic or liberal candidates, if that’s what you mean by that term, then yes."

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Wylie said Michael Flynn was a consultant for Cambridge Analytica and was hired to "open doors" and "look at potential contracts" in the United States and abroad. Flynn was a Trump campaign adviser and later served as the president's national security adviser before Trump fired him for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

Bloomberg Politics:

Wylie’s comments Tuesday related to a time period after Bannon became involved in Cambridge Analytica in 2014 but before he joined the Trump campaign in 2016. Bannon served as vice president and secretary of Cambridge Analytica from June 2014 through August 2016, according to a government disclosure report he filed.

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Bannon also directed the company to test messaging later used by the Trump campaign, Wylie told lawmakers. Bannon pushed for research intended to capitalize on discontent within certain populations by using themes such as "drain the swamp" and immigration, Wylie said.

Bannon said he didn’t care if campaign ads created and promoted through Cambridge Analytica promoted incorrect information because he was trying to win a “culture war,” Wylie told the Democrats.

In something that Wylie said he couldn’t fully explain, he also reported that Bannon directed Cambridge Analytica in 2014 to test images and concepts for an American audience relating to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian expansion in Eastern Europe.

“I can’t explain why it was that they picked Vladimir Putin to talk about in focus groups or to do message testing or to do models on, and why that would be useful to Steve Bannon," he told the Democrats.

Cambridge Analytica's Promotion of Discontent Tied to Bannon (Bloomberg Politics)

Cambridge Analytica whistleblower: Steve Bannon used data to discourage Democratic turnout (USA Today)