Foreign Policy is reporting exclusively that President Trump personally ordered that Steve Bannon not answer House Intelligence Committee questions.
Trump acted to limit Bannon’s testimony based on legal advice provided by Uttam Dhillon, a deputy White House counsel, who concluded that the administration might have legitimate executive privilege claims to restrict testimony by Bannon and other current and former aides to the president ...
But Dhillon has also concluded that Bannon and other current and former Trump administration officials do not have legitimate claims to executive privilege when it comes to providing information or testimony to special counsel Robert Mueller ...
But in a seeming contradiction that heightened confusion about Bannon’s testimony, White House chief of staff John Kelly told Fox News on Wednesday that the White House had not instructed the former West Wing aide to invoke executive privilege.
Either way, Bannon's behavior on Tuesday did not win him any fans, even amongst fellow Republicans.
In an unlikely moment of bipartisanship, Bannon infuriated both Republicans and Democrats on Tuesday by refusing to answer their questions about Russia-related events after Trump’s election. Bannon said he was complying with a White House claim of executive privilege — which shields White House communications from legislative branch scrutiny — and maintained his silence even after the committee subpoenaed him on the spot.
Appearing on Fox News on Wednesday night, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) said Bannon had invoked a version of executive privilege “that doesn’t exist and that no one’s ever heard of before.”
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[Florida Republican Representative Tom] Rooney said he'd "have to consider" whether a contempt citation was appropriate if Bannon continues to stymie the committee's inquiries. He added that he thinks Bannon is using the committee as a platform to signal his allegiance to Trump, who angrily denounced Bannon as “Sloppy Steve” after his former strategist was quoted in an explosive new book by Michael Wolff making derogatory comments about Trump's family and about the Trump Tower meeting.
Full story: Trump Ordered Bannon to Limit Testimony (Foreign Policy)