Ex-White House Adviser Steve Bannon Skips Congressional Testimony

WASHINGTON — 

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is skipping a scheduled interview Tuesday with the House Intelligence Committee about his time as a key adviser to President Donald Trump, even after lawmakers subpoenaed him to appear.

Congressman Mike Conaway, the Texas Republican leading the panel's investigation into Russian interference into the 2016 U.S. presidential election, had said he expected Bannon to appear to answer questions, but sources close to the committee told news agencies he would not show up, part of the lawmakers' ongoing dispute with the White House over the scope of its questioning of Bannon.

Bannon could face a contempt of Congress charge for his failure to comply with the subpoena, but it was not clear whether the committee would take any action against him.

Bannon last month spent 10 hours before the committee, but largely refused to answer questions about the weeks he spent helping Trump organize his administration before Trump assumed power a year ago, and then about the seven months he served as the president's chief strategist until he was ousted in August.

Fall from grace

Bannon was a vocal alt-right supporter of Trump's brand of America-first populism in the White House. But he fell from grace with the president after voicing disparaging views of White House operations and other Trump advisers in author Michael Wolff's recently published book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.

Bannon was particularly critical of Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, both of whom are White House advisers, and Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., for his role in arranging a Trump Tower meeting in New York in the midst of the 2016 campaign on the premise a Russian lawyer would turn over incriminating evidence about his father's election opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

“When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind,” Trump said of Bannon.

Even as Bannon has feuded with the House panel over his questioning, news accounts say he plans to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Russian meddling and whether Trump obstructed justice by seeking to curb his probe.

While negotiations over Bannon's testimony plays out, The New York Times reported that Trump's lawyers are advising him not to agree to appear for an interview with Mueller.

Trump testimony

Mueller's team has already talked to multiple White House officials and others involved with Trump's campaign for president, as part of its criminal probe into the Russia interference in the U.S. election and whether Trump obstructed justice by firing James Comey, the one-time director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who was heading the agency's Russia investigation at the time Trump dismissed him.

The Times said that according to four people briefed on the issue, Trump's lawyers have concerns about whether the president would make false or contradictory statements and thus open himself up to possible charges of lying to federal investigators. The report says further the lawyers believe Mueller should not be legally allowed to question the president about some aspects of the investigation.

Trump said recently he looks forward to answering Mueller's questions under oath. Earlier, he questioned why such a step would be necessary as he rejected that there was any collusion between his campaign and Russia and said he did not obstruct justice by firing Comey.

Mueller could subpoena Trump if he does not agree to a request to speak with the investigators. The Times said the president's lawyers believe Mueller might not be willing to take that step and enter a legal battle with the White House to force his testimony.

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