Steve Bannon, former White House adviser and ally of Donald Trump, who faces criminal charges for defying for months a legislative subpoena related to the assault on the Capitol, has informed the House of Representatives commission investigating that episode that he is willing to testify.
Bannon’s change of heart was expressed in a letter Saturday night by his lawyer, lawmakers said, as the commission prepares to air this week some of its most shocking revelations to date against Trump in what could be his last cycle of hearings.
“I hope we hear it; We have a lot of questions for him,” said California Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren. She and other commission members said in television interviews Sunday that they intended to call Bannon for a private conversation, which they normally do in a sworn statement.
Bannon has been one of the most prominent Trump allies to refuse to testify before the commission, resulting in two criminal counts of contempt of Congress for disregarding a commission subpoena. Bannon has said his testimony would be protected due to executive privilege invoked by Trump.
The commission says that claim is dubious because Trump fired Bannon from the White House in 2017 and Bannon was therefore a private citizen when he was consulting with the then-president prior to the storming of Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021.
However, amid growing frustration for the former president in recent days at what he describes as a one-sided exposition by the commission of seven Democrats and two Republicans, Trump has signaled that he may waive executive privilege, according to a letter he sent Saturday. to Bannon’s attorney.
“If you reach an agreement on the date and place of your testimony, I will waive executive privilege for you, allowing you to come and testify truthfully and impartially at the request of an unselected commission of thugs and corrupt,” Trump wrote. .
The committee’s Thursday night hearing will examine the more than three-hour stretch in which Trump did nothing when a mob of supporters stormed the Capitol. The audience will be the first in prime time since the June 9 opening watched by 20 million people.
Tuesday’s hearing will focus on the plotting and planning of the insurgency by nationalist groups such as the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters, and will highlight Friday’s testimony from former White House adviser Pat Cipollone.
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Associated Press writer Hannah Fingerhut, in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, contributed to this report.
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