Bannon refuses to comply with US House subpoena
washington — President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon declined on Tuesday to comply with a subpoena ordering him to answer questions from a US House intelligence panel about his time at the White House as part of its investigation into allegations of Russian interference in the US election.
After Bannon initially refused to answer questions about the matter, Devin Nunes, the committee’s Republican party chairman, authorised a subpoena during the meeting to press Bannon to respond.
Even then, Bannon refused to answer questions after his lawyer had conferred with the White House and was told again to refuse to answer questions about the transition period immediately after Trump was elected, or Bannon’s time in the administration, according to Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee.
Separately, the New York Times reported that Bannon had been subpoenaed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller to testify before a grand jury in a probe of alleged ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, on Tuesday. It was the first time Mueller is known to have used a subpoena against a member of Trump’s inner circle, the Times said. It cited a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
A spokesman for Mueller’s office declined comment. Bill Burck, a lawyer for Bannon, could not be reached for comment on the subpoena l.
The reported subpoena of Bannon does not mean he is a target of Mueller’s criminal investigation.
Bannon, a champion of Trump’s “America First” agenda, was among the Republican’s closest aides during the 2016 election campaign. —