Steve Bannon spent more than nine hours meeting with the House Intelligence Committee behind closed doors Tuesday, but his refusal to answer a broad range of questions – at the White House's instruction – led lawmakers to take an unusual bipartisan step.
When Bannon told lawmakers he was willing to answer questions about his time in the White House but the Trump administration had instructed him not to, the committee issued a subpoena on the spot to compel him to cooperate. Committee Chairman Devin Nunes confirmed to reporters that he signed off on the subpoena.
It was not immediately clear whether the White House was formally invoking executive privilege as the basis for instructing Bannon to cooperate.
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Rep. Tom Rooney of Florida, one of the three Republicans heading up the Russia probe, said the panel certainly would respect executive privilege, but that it was unclear of whether it would apply both to activities that occurred in the transition and in the White House.
“When does that attach is the question that’s sort of dominating the day,” he said. “If you are a part of the White House in any way, and you’re talking about things that were during the campaign … then what?
Ranking Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), in an MSNBC interview Tuesday night, called it "the broadest effort to effectively gag a witness we have seen." He says the White House has not invoked executive privilege, and the committee will ask Bannon to return.
Bannon subpoenaed by House committee after refusing to answer questions (NBC News)