Trump To Hire Breitbart Reporter Julia Hahn To Report To Bannon As Tensions With Ryan Reportedly Cool

Politico: Trump White House To Hire Breitbart Writer Who Has “Been Critical Of House Speaker Paul Ryan.” According to a Politico report, Breitbart staff writer Julia Hahn “is expected to join the White House – a move that further underscores Breitbart’s influence in the new administration.” The article noted that Hahn will “primarily work under President Trump’s White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, himself a former key player at Breitbart” and that Hahn has “at times been critical of House Speaker Paul Ryan.” From the January 22 report:

Julia Hahn, a staff writer at Breitbart News, is expected to join the White House – a move that further underscores Breitbart’s influence in the new administration.

According to two sources briefed on the move, Hahn’s title will be special assistant to the president and she is expected to primarily work under White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, himself a former key player at Breitbart. Prior to joining Donald Trump’s campaign, Bannon, an outspoken populist and member of the president’s inner circle, was chairman of the conservative website.

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Like many other Breitbart writers, she has at times been critical of House Speaker Paul Ryan. [Politico, 1/22/17]

The Hill: “Paul Ryan And Stephen Bannon Are Getting Along.” Hahn’s incoming hiring comes just days after The Hill reported that House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Bannon are “getting along.” According to The Hill article, the two “have embarked on a surprising collaboration” which has “surprised and delighted members of Trump’s incoming administration.” The report added that there are worries from Republicans that “a feud between the two men would spell disaster for the party's agenda.” From the January 18 article:

Paul Ryan and Stephen Bannon are getting along.

In meetings at Trump Tower and on Capitol Hill, the House Speaker and senior adviser to President-elect Donald Trump have embarked on a surprising collaboration, top aides say, sketching out a plan for tax reform that could be among the next president's first major legislative achievements.

Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, met last week in his office with several Trump aides. Over an Italian dinner, Ryan discussed the House GOP’s reform plan with Bannon, as well as Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, incoming White House policy director Stephen Miller and Treasury Secretary-designate Steven Mnuchin.

This budding relationship has surprised and delighted members of Trump’s incoming administration, which has otherwise been dogged by reports of infighting. And it offers hope to Republicans worried that a feud between the two men would spell disaster for the party's agenda. [The Hill, 1/18/17]

Wash. Post: At Least One Paul Ryan Ally Believes Hahn Hire Is “A Provocative Act And Clearly An Intentional Act.” According to a Washington Post report on reactions to Hahn’s hire, “several allies of Ryan” see the hire as “a brazen move by Bannon that threatened the fragile comity between Trump and Congress,” with one calling it “a provocative act and clearly an intentional act” given her history of criticism:

Although Hahn will serve in a midlevel role as a special assistant to the president, her hiring alarmed and angered several Ryan allies, who expressed concern Monday about what they see as a brazen move by Bannon that threatened the fragile comity between Trump and Congress — and brightly underscored the Trump team’s insouciance about enlisting Ryan’s fiercest critic.



Privately, a number of House Republicans told The Washington Post that Hahn’s involvement signaled Bannon’s plans to possibly put her to use against them, writing searing commentaries about elected Republican leaders to ram through Trump’s legislative priorities and agitate the party’s base if necessary.



“This is obviously a provocative act and clearly an intentional act,” said Peter Wehner, a longtime Ryan friend and former official in three Republican administrations. “Bannon is willing to napalm the bridges with congressional Republicans.”



Wehner said that too many Republicans on Capitol Hill are “engaging in a fiction, a game, where Bannon and Trump aren’t taken seriously even though Bannon and Trump are operating in a serious way and bringing on people who are going to work for their cause, not for conservatives.” [The Washington Post, 1/23/17]

Hahn Has A History Of Attacking House Speaker Paul Ryan At Breitbart

Hahn: Ryan “Doesn’t In Any Way Support” The Policies Of The Republican Base. Hahn asserted that Ryan “doesn’t in any way support” the policies of the Republican base, claiming that “open borders” immigration policy “‘is in his blood.’” Hahn noted that while House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) “will walk over fire to represent the needs and the interests of her progressive base, … Republicans feel as though they don’t have leadership that does the same” in Ryan. From the November 16 edition of SirusXM Patriot’s Breitbart News Daily:

JULIA HAHN: You have to ask, if you have a speaker of the House who’s supposed to be representing the people, is he going to champion a bill to curb immigration?

ALEX MARLOW (HOST): Yeah.

HAHN: Is he going to twist arms to push this bill through? Is he going to -- I mean, Nancy Pelosi will walk over fire to represent the needs and the interests of her progressive base. We don’t have, Republicans feel as though they don’t have leadership that does the same. They feel like they have to beg and plead and shut down the congressional switchboard just to stop their leadership from passing bills the base doesn’t want. You’re never going to have, and especially -- I mean, it would be one thing if Paul Ryan just was agnostic to the issue. But Paul Ryan has a two-decade-long history of being close to some of the most open-border advocates in Congress.

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I mean, this is something that, to quote NumbersUSA president, “It runs in his blood.” Open borders is his ideological DNA. And so when you’re dealing with that type of a leader, I think it’s a different concern than just well, will he go along with these policies? It’s -- well, he can’t, he doesn’t in any way support them. Maybe he’ll go along with some version of them. But it’s certainly he’s not going to go along with a Donald Trump -- the mandate that Donald Trump was given. [SiriusXM Patriot, Breitbart News Daily, 11/16/16]

Hahn: Ryan Has “Spent Months Both Quietly And Loudly Undermining His Own Party’s Nominee For President.” In an October 21 Breitbart piece titled “He’s With Her: Inside Paul Ryan’s Months-Long Campaign To Elect Hillary Clinton President,” Hahn asserted that “Ryan has spent months both quietly and loudly undermining his own party’s nominee for president.” Hahn claimed “Ryan and Clinton share a progressive, globalist worldview, which is at odds with Trump’s ‘America first’ approach,” adding that both “see themselves as representatives not only for American citizens, but also for foreign nationals and foreign interests.” From the October 21 piece:

The view that Ryan “doesn’t know how to win,” however, neglects the reality that both Ryan and Clinton share a progressive, globalist worldview, which is at odds with Trump’s “America first” approach. Indeed, both Clinton and Ryan have said that they see themselves as representatives not only for American citizens, but also for foreign nationals and foreign interests. This view that the needs of foreign citizens are equal to the needs of American citizens reflects the belief that Americans are only part of many interest groups that a lawmaker ought to consider when crafting legislation—even as he or she negotiates with other countries, which always put their citizens first.

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Both Clinton and Ryan view being American as an intellectual “idea” rather than a national identity, and both support the donor-class’s agenda of open borders, which—as Bernie Sanders has explained—essentially amounts to “doing away with the concept of a nation-state.”

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The divide between progressive globalism and nation-state conservatism perhaps helps to illuminate why Ryan has spent months both quietly and loudly undermining his own party’s nominee for president. [Breitbart.com, 10/21/16]

Hahn: Ryan Is “Very Much Disconnected With An Overwhelming Majority Of His Constituents” And “The Republican Electorate.” Hahn cited polling data to claim that Ryan “is very much disconnected with an overwhelming majority of his constituents,” including “the Republican electorate.” From the October 13 edition of SiriusXM Patriot’s Breitbart News Daily:

JULIA HAHN: Well I think one of the things that Lou Dobbs has repeatedly pointed out is, what is Paul Ryan’s agenda? And if you look at it in terms of the polling data, it shows he really is very much disconnected with an overwhelming majority of his constituents, the Republican electorate. If you look at trade, if you look at immigration, the latest polling shows that nine in 10 Republicans oppose his vision on these issues. [SiriusXM Patriot, Breitbart News Daily, 10/13/16]

Hahn: Ryan Is “Disproportionately Hurting American Workers” By Allowing Immigrants In On H2B Visas. Hahn claimed that Ryan was “disproportionately hurting American workers” by including language in a spending bill that would “quadruple the H2B visa.” From the October 13 edition of SiriusXM Patriot’s Breitbart News Daily:

JULIA HAHN: The H2B issue is huge for truck drivers in terms of American --

ALEX MARLOW (HOST): H2B, what is an H2B? Tell us what an H2B is.

HAHN: An H2B visa is one of these guest worker visas that they use and it tends to -- it’s more truck drivers, people who work in restaurants. A lot of industries that are filled by these types of workers and they replace them with H2B visas, as opposed to the H1B visa, which would replace like tech workers.

MARLOW: Right, so like an IT worker or something like that. So now, how does this fit into -- so it seems like what we see is people like Hillary Clinton and Paul Ryan and the globalist cabal, the evil empire will all use these different visa programs to literally replace people like Ed. Right? Like they want to get rid of Ed. They don’t like Ed.

HAHN: Well that’s exactly it. I mean, last year, you had Paul Ryan quadruple, in the omnibus spending bill, quadruple the H2B visa, and disproportionately hurting American workers. [SiriusXM Patriot, Breitbart News Daily, 10/13/16]

Hahn Slammed Ryan For Remaining “Passive And Quiet As Criminal Aliens Have Assaulted Tens Of Thousands Of American Women” But Criticizing Trump’s Boasts About Sexual Assault. Hahn criticized Ryan for “remain[ing] passive and quiet as criminal aliens have assaulted tens of thousands of American women” after he criticized Trump for comments he made describing sexual assault in a 2005 Access Hollywood Video. From the October 12 article:

In July of 2015, an illegal alien allegedly broke into the home a 64-year-old Air Force veteran Marilyn Pharis while she was asleep in her bedroom.

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There is no public record that House Speaker Paul Ryan has ever spoken out about Pharis’ sexual assault.

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Ryan has remained passive and quiet as criminal aliens have assaulted tens of thousands of American women, but when an 11-year-old audio tape emerged of Donald Trump caught on a hot mic discussing women in crass terms, Ryan declared himself “sickened” and spoke out. [Breitbart.com, 10/12/16]

Hahn: By Criticizing Trump For Attacking The Khan Family, Ryan Is Trying To “Undermine Trump And The Republican Party’s Chances Of Electoral Success.” Hahn lashed out at Ryan for criticizing Trump’s attacks on the Khans, a Muslim couple who spoke at the Democratic National Convention about their son who died while serving in Iraq. She wrote, “Many have pointed out that Ryan’s recent statements seem designed to undermine Trump and the Republican Party’s chances of electoral success in 2016.” Hahn called Ryan’s move “interesting as Ryan issued no similar statement condemning Hillary Clinton after grieving parents whose children were murdered by illegal aliens spoke at the Republican National Convention and explained how Clinton-backed policies were directly responsible for their children’s deaths.” From the July 31 piece:

Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan opted to join in on Hillary Clinton’s latest attack against his party’s nominee.

In recent days, the establishment media has devoted a great deal of coverage to Khizr Khan, a Muslim father whose son died serving in Iraq and who spoke at the Democratic National Convention. During his DNC speech, Khan attacked Donald Trump for wanting to curb the record-high rate of Muslim immigration into the U.S.

Following the media’s practically round-the-clock coverage of Khan’s attacks against Trump, Speaker Paul Ryan decided to join in on the pile on.

Ryan issued a statement on Sunday in which he, once again, disavowed the use of a religious test for admitting foreign migrants.

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Ryan’s decision to comment on Khan’s statement is interesting as Ryan issued no similar statement condemning Hillary Clinton after grieving parents whose children were murdered by illegal aliens spoke at the Republican National Convention and explained how Clinton-backed policies were directly responsible for their children’s deaths.

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Many have pointed out that Ryan’s recent statements seem designed to undermine Trump and the Republican Party’s chances of electoral success in 2016. [Breitbart.com, 7/31/16]

Hahn: Ryan “Leads The Pro-Islamic Migration Wing Of The Republican Party” And Wants To “Continue To Admit Ideologies That Preach Hatred … Towards American[s].” Hahn claimed that Ryan “leads the pro-Islamic migration wing of the Republican Party” after he voted to fund “visas for nearly 300,000 (temporary and permanent) Muslim migrants.” Unlike Ryan, wrote Hahn, Trump does not want to “continue to admit ideologies that preach hatred or violence towards American women, gays, Christians, and Jews.” From the June 17 article:

Last year, House Speaker Paul Ryan’s omnibus spending bill fully funded President Obama’s expanded refugee agenda– funding visas for nearly 300,000 (temporary and permanent) Muslim migrants this year alone.

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Ryan, who leads the pro-Islamic migration wing of the Republican Party, recently suggested that he would sue a future President Trump if he were to use his executive authority to temporarily pause Muslim migration into the United States.

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Unlike Ryan, Trump has said that our immigration policies cannot continue to admit ideologies that preach hatred or violence towards American women, gays, Christians, and Jews. [Breitbart.com, 6/17/16]

Hahn: Ryan Finds “New And Creative Ways” To Show His “Concerns About Trump,” But Makes “No Such Effort … On Behalf Of Americans Murdered By Illegal Aliens.” Hahn slammed Ryan in a June 16 piece, writing that he “has found new and creative ways to make his concerns about Trump front-page news,” while at the same time putting forth “no such effort … on behalf of Americans murdered by illegal aliens.” From the June 16 article:

Ryan’s suggestion that the House doesn’t want to “clog” U.S. jails with illegal alien drunk drivers might come as a surprise to the many Americans who have been victimized and have lost their loved ones to the reckless driving of illegal aliens, who may not only be illiterate, but addicted to drugs and alcohol.

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Ryan showed no such enthusiasm for pushing Kate’s Law. While Ryan has found new and creative ways to make his concerns about Trump front-page news, no such effort has been made on behalf of Americans murdered by illegal aliens—the former whom Congress represents. [Breitbart.com, 6/16/16]

Hahn: Ryan Thinks A Religious Test For Immigrants Is “Reprehensible For The Country, But Ideal For His Kids’ School.” Hahn derided Ryan for his position that the U.S. not institute a religious test for immigrants, while at the same time he “chooses to insulate his children in an academic environment that considers religion in its admissions process.” From the May 9 article:

If the U.S. had an immigration policy that resembled the admission policy of Speaker Ryan’s school — i.e. it recruited migrants from churches and synagogues overseas and offered discounted migration to people who attended churches and synagogues — although a Muslim migrant could theoretically get in, the effect would be to substantially reduce Muslim migration and increase Christian and Jewish migration relative to it — a policy which Ryan finds reprehensible for the country, but ideal for his kids’ school.

While Ryan chooses to insulate his children in an academic environment that considers religion in its admissions process, he has been adamant that the American people are not entitled to be similarly selective about who comes into their country to live as their neighbors, receive their tax dollars, fill public university slots, demand affirmative action, or potentially radicalize against their own country. [Breitbart.com, 5/9/16]

Hahn: Ryan “Seems To Support Border Fences For Himself, Even As He Denies The American People Those Same Protections.” Hahn criticized Ryan for seeming “to support border fences for himself, even as he denies the American people those same protections.” Hahn reported that “Ryan has constructed a fence around his property” but that he supported an omnibus spending bill which “does not provide funding for the mandatory completion of a 700-mile double-layer border fence that Congress promised the American people nearly a decade ago.” From the December 17, 2015, article:

A recent Breitbart News investigation reveals that Paul Ryan, who has a two-decade-long history of promoting open borders immigration policies, seems to support border fences for himself, even as he denies the American people those same protections.

While Paul Ryan’s omnibus spending bill does not provide funding for the mandatory completion of a 700-mile double-layer border fence that Congress promised the American people nearly a decade ago when it passed the 2006 Secure Fence Act, Paul Ryan has constructed a fence around his property.

As Breitbart News’s photographic documentation reveals, Ryan’s home is surrounded by a tall border fence reinforced by equally high bushes— ensuring both privacy and security. Moreover, the fence is manned by an on-duty agent who guards his property’s perimeter. Upon even the slightest appearance of any unusual activity— such as a 5’2″ female taking a photograph of the fence— Ryan’s border agent will deploy into action to ensure the perimeter’s sovereignty. [Breitbart.com, 12/17/15]

Hahn: Ryan-Backed Appropriation Bill “Is A Total And Complete Sell-Out Of The American People.” Hahn, in a piece co-written with Bannon, lambasted a 2015 spending bill -- which she claimed was “Paul Ryan’s first major legislative achievement” -- as “a total and complete sell-out of the American people.” Hahn asserted that the bill “is designed to keep” fights about “refugee[s], immigration, and spending priorities” “off the table for good,” which in turn “will boost the candidacy of the Republican establishment’s preferred presidential contenders, who favor President Obama’s immigration agenda.” From the December 16, 2015, article:

Paul Ryan’s first major legislative achievement is a total and complete sell-out of the American people masquerading as an appropriations bill.

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By locking in the President’s refugee, immigration, and spending priorities, Ryan’s bill is designed to keep these fights out of Congress by getting them off the table for good. Delivering Obama these wins–and pushing these issues beyond the purview of Congress–will suppress public attention to the issues and, in so doing, will boost the candidacy of the Republican establishment’s preferred presidential contenders, who favor President Obama’s immigration agenda. [Breitbart.com, 12/16/15]