Steve Bannon, a former White House strategist and ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump facing criminal charges after months of challenging a congressional summons for the Capitol riot, told the House committee that investigates the attack he is now willing to declare.
Bannon’s change was announced Saturday afternoon by his lawyer in a letter, lawmakers said as the committee prepares to issue some of its most startling revelations to date this week against Trump in what could be his set of final hearings.
“I hope we get news of him and there are a lot of questions we have for him,” said Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California. She and other committee members said Sunday in television interviews that they intend for Bannon to sit down for a private interview, which they usually do in a sworn witness statement.
Bannon had been one of Trump’s most prominent allies in refusing to testify before the committee, prompting two criminal charges of contempt in Congress last year for resisting the committee’s summons. He has argued that his testimony is protected by the Trump executive’s claim of privilege. The committee argues that this claim is questionable because Trump had fired Bannon from the White House in 2017, and therefore Bannon was a private citizen when he consulted with the then president before the January 6, 2021 riot.
However, in recent days, as the former president has become frustrated with what he denounced as a unilateral presentation by the committee of seven Democrats and two Republicans, Trump said he would waive that privilege claim, according to a letter Saturday to Bannon’s lawyer.
Bannon is seen with then-President Donald Trump in the White House in January 2017. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press)
“If you reach an agreement on the time and place for your testimony, I will relinquish the privilege of the executive, which will allow you to enter and testify truthfully and fairly, at the request of the unselected committee of thugs and political pirates. , ”Trump wrote.
The committee’s Thursday evening hearing will examine the more than three-hour stretch when Trump failed to act as a crowd of supporters stormed the Capitol. It will be the first peak-time hearing since the June 9 debut that was seen by 20 million people.
A hearing on Tuesday will focus on the conspiracy and insurgency planning of white nationalist groups such as the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters, and will also highlight the testimony taken Friday by former White House lawyer Pat Cipollone.
It comes after last month’s surprise testimony from former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson provided the most compelling evidence that Trump could be linked to a federal crime. Since then, the committee has seen an influx of new information and confidential advice.
Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland suggested that Bannon “changed his mind, and after seeing, presumably, that all these people showed up, including Cassidy Hutchinson, he has decided he wants to come in, and if he wants to come in. I’m I’m sure the committee would be very interested to know. “
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Bannon’s trial for the two criminal charges is July 18. A hearing on his case was scheduled for Monday in Washington federal court. Bannon has been looking for a delay in his trial to at least fall.
It is unclear to what extent Bannon intends to cooperate. He has expressed his preference for appearing before the commission at a public hearing. The committee is making it clear that it must first sit down for a private interview, usually in an affidavit. He may also choose to appear and then refuse to answer questions, citing his right to the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination.
“The way we’ve treated all the witnesses is the same, they come in, they talk to the committee,” Raskin said. “If they’re going to make a statement, they swear under oath. It’s videotaped. It’s recorded, and then we take it from there.”
The committee says it wants to hear from Bannon because “he had specific knowledge about the events scheduled for Jan. 6 before they occurred.” He cited as an example comments he made on his podcast the day before the riot.
“It’s not going to happen like you think it’s going to happen. Okay, it’s going to be pretty extraordinarily different. All I can say is put on my leash,” Bannon said in this podcast. “All hell will be delivered tomorrow … A lot of people said, ‘Man, if I were in a revolution, I’d be in Washington.’ Well, this is your moment in history.”