Steve Bannon ‘Willing’ to Meet Jan. 6 Committee After Trump Waives Executive Privilege
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Steve Bannon — currently facing contempt of Congress charges after defying a subpoena to appear before the Jan. 6 committee — has signaled that he is willing to testify in front of the committee.
CNN reported Sunday that Bannon’s lawyer Bob Costello sent a letter to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection revealing the former Trump strategist’s plans.
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“While Mr. Bannon has been steadfast in his convictions, circumstances have now changed,” Costello wrote in the letter. “Mr. Bannon is willing to, and indeed prefers, to testify at your public hearing.”
The “circumstances” that have changed, according to the Guardian, is that Donald Trump waived the executive privilege that Bannon previously stated allowed him to not comply with the Jan. 6 committee’s original request.
In addition to Costello’s letter to the committee, Bannon’s lawyer also provided a letter from Trump to Bannon formally waiving the executive privilege.
“When you first received the Subpoena to testify and provide documents, I invoked Executive Privilege. However, I watched how unfairly you and others have been treated, having to spend vast amounts of money on legal fees, and all of the trauma you must be going through for the love of your Country, and out of respect for the Office of the President,” Trump wrote to Bannon, adding that the Jan. 6 committee was “hacks and thugs.”
“Therefore, if you reach an agreement on a time and place for your testimony, I will waive Executive Privilege for you, which allows you to go in and testify truthfully and fairly.”
It’s unclear when the Jan. 6 committee will call upon Bannon to testify, and whether it will take place in the requested public hearing or first behind closed doors; while Bannon’s appearance has not yet been scheduled, his trial on the contempt charges is set to begin Monday, July 18.
Bannon reportedly spoke to Trump both before and during the events of Jan. 6 at the Capitol, and was among the Trump aides at the former president’s “war room” at Washington, D.C.’s Willard hotel leading up to the riot.
Speaking about Bannon’s change of heart on CNN Sunday, congresswomen and January 6 committee member Zoe Lofgren said, “I expect that we will be hearing from him, and there are many questions that we have for him.”
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