Paul Bond at The Hollywood Reporter (THR) interviewed Jeff Kwatinetz, former business partner of Trump adviser Steve Bannon, and did his best to draw out proof that Bannon is the racist and Jew-hater that the Left stubbornly insists he is. But Kwatinetz wouldn't give Bond what he wanted. "Steve has great character," Kwatinetz kept insisting, just as stubbornly. "He’s not a racist or anti-Semitic. Things like that are absurd."

The Firm talent management and TV production company founder Jeff Kwatinetz is an avowed liberal who was in business with Bannon for two years back in 2002 and 2003 when it purchased Michael Ovitz’s Artist Management Group. Throughout his THR interview, Kwatinetz repeated his conviction that the White House chief counsel has "great character."

"As a liberal," Kwatinetz said, "I don’t judge people on their politics, I judge them on their character, and from what I knew then and what I know now, Steve has great character. He’s not a racist or anti-Semitic. Things like that are absurd."

That wasn't the answer Paul Bond wanted, so he pressed harder. "So why are people saying those things about him?"

Kwatinetz responded,

I’ve had 20 people who worked at The Firm when Steve was there ask me why the media is lying about Steve. Unlike most of us, Steve is very at ease with himself. He doesn’t need people to correct falsehoods, and he didn’t ask us to do so. He’s a great person who wants the world to be a better place. He’s a good friend and an incredibly hard worker. He has beliefs and stands by them. Those beliefs aren’t based on racism, they’re based on what he honestly believes is best for the world. Do I agree with all of them? No. He was a Bush and a [Donald] Rumsfeld supporter, I was a Bill Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporter. But not being a liberal doesn’t mean you’re a racist.

Growing desperate, Bond kept at it. "Did you ever witness anything that could be interpreted as anti-Semitic?" he asked.

"I know that he’s not anti-Semitic," was the frustrating answer. "I am absolutely positive that he’s not anti-Semitic or racist. It is absurd. I am Jewish, Roy Furman was Jewish, Andrew Breitbart was Jewish. He is not anti-Semitic. Period."

Bond didn't give up. "So why does MSNBC keep talking about him being anti-Semitic?"

"Because they’re wrong," Kwatinetz said. Actually, it's because they're lying and trying to demonize and destroy Bannon, because that's what the left does.

Bond then went on to question whether defending Bannon is "dangerous to your career," and Kwatinetz answered, "It’s dangerous because people want to believe what they’ve been told to believe. I’m telling you that the guy is a good person. I know it. And if it hurts my career to tell the truth about someone, then I guess it’s going to have to hurt my career, because he is a good person."

Bond tried a different tack, attempting to get Kwatinetz to denounce Bannon's documentaries as propaganda. Kwatinetz fired back, "I’d call Michael Moore’s films propaganda. Seriously. I mean, Roger and Me was a great film but he makes a lot of films with untruths in them. Just by the question, 'Are his films propaganda?' is a way to dismiss Steve’s point of view."

Bond then tried to get Kwatinetz to downplay Bannon's successes in Hollywood. "Some are saying they don’t remember Steve in Hollywood and that his work in the entertainment industry is an exaggeration."

"They can say whatever they want," Kwatinetz answered. He went on to describe some of the major deals Bannon helped negotiate and to praise his work ethic.

Bond asked if Kwatinetz had experienced Bannon's reported temper, and Kwatinetz pushed back:

I don’t know how to answer a question like that. I don’t remember him losing his temper. No. Doesn’t everybody lose their temper? Steve was a great partner. He worked countless hours. Is he a devil if he lost his temper?... Steve was not an unusually aggressive hot-head. He’s very smart and as a result very opinionated... I can just tell you that people who worked with Steve admired him. All my partners admired him. Most of the senior executives in my company are flabbergasted by the negative portrayal of him. I had one former female executive literally crying on the phone with me: “Why are you letting people lie about Steve like this?” I mean, Steve worked his ass off and did good work.

Kwatinetz concluded the interview by saying that "Democrats think Republicans are devils and Republicans think Democrats are devils. But Steve is not a devil. He’s a great guy, and if it gets me in trouble for telling the truth, then it gets me in trouble."

The whole interview is worth reading, and as a liberal in Hollywood, Jeff Kwatinetz deserves kudos for sticking his neck out to defend Steve Bannon and the truth. Check it out here.