Domestic violence in past of Trump’s campaign chief

Media mogul Stephen Bannon was charged in 1996.

The recent appointment of conservative media mogul Stephen Bannon as chief executive of Donald Trump’s campaign was part of an effort to reset a candidacy that has stumbled with minority and female voters and suffered from controversies surrounding high-level campaign officials.

But Bannon brings to the post his own bumpy background that includes misdemeanor charges of domestic violence and allegations that he threatened his then-wife with retribution if she testified in the criminal case, according to a police report of the incident and court records.

The charges date back two decades to the end of a troubled marriage in Santa Monica, Calif., when Bannon’s then-wife, Mary Louise Piccard, claimed he had attacked her at their home.

He was charged in February 1996 with domestic violence, battery and attempting to dis- suade a victim from reporting a crime, but the case was dropped when Piccard did not show up in court.

In court records, Piccard later claimed that Bannon had instructed her to leave town to avoid testifying.

Bannon, who pleaded not guilty, declined to be interviewed. His spokeswoman, Alexandra Preate, said Bannon has “a great relationship” with his ex-wife and their daughters.

As chairman of the Breitbart News website, Bannon has been viewed as a conservative provocateur, making incendiary comments on a range of topics.

He called Gretchen Carlson’s sexual harassment case against former Fox News chairman Roger Ailes a “total dud,” and alleged the existence of a “militant-feminist legal wrecking crew.”

The Santa Monica city attorney brought charges against Bannon, and he was served with a domestic violence protective order, court records show. But that August, when the case came to trial, prosecutors were forced to dismiss the charges because the victim, their main witness, was “unable to be located,” according to the records.