Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon once again avoided testifying before the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, forcing the panel to give him another week to comply with a subpoena to appear.
A source told CNN Monday that Bannon knew prior to Tuesday’s deadline that he would not be showing up to give testimony because the White House and the committee have not reached an agreement on the scope of the questioning. The committee confirmed Tuesday that Bannon would be given another week to comply with the subpoena.
Emily Hytha, spokeswoman for Rep. Mike Conaway, the Texas Republican running the committee’s Russia probe, said in a statement: “The House Intelligence Committee’s interview with Stephen Bannon has been postponed at the Committee’s initiative until next week. We look forward to having him before the Committee once we can assure that he will be able to thoroughly answer all our questions without concerns regarding the scope of executive privilege.”
The committee is looking to question Bannon about his time in the White House as well as the presidential transition. Bannon did not answer questions on either topic when he was interviewed last month, instead asserting that he would only answer questions about topics pertaining to when he was chief executive of the Trump campaign. His attorney said that the White House had directed Bannon to protect the president’s right to assert executive privilege.
That stonewalling has caused the committee to delay his appearance twice.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), ranking committee member, released a statement in which he called Bannon’s failure to testify “unacceptable.”
“This week, Steve Bannon’s counsel informed the Committee that the White House continues to prohibit Mr. Bannon from testifying to the Committee beyond a set of fourteen yes-or-no questions the White House had pre-approved,” Schiff said, adding that the committee “remains united” and that the subpoenas are still in effect.
Meanwhile, Conaway told reporters Monday night that he was unaware of any deal to limit the answers Bannon would be able to provide, and he fully expects Bannon to comply with the subpoena demands.
TL;DR: This administration is corrupt and has a lot to hide. There are skeletons all up and through those closets.
Everyone is complicit. They all need to go to jail.