Ranking Member on the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff said Friday that it is likely at this point that former top White House adviser Steve Bannon will face contempt of Congress charges for refusing to answer their questions. The Committee has been engaged in a contentious back-and-forth with Bannon and his legal team for weeks about questions the Committee is trying to get him to answer.
The body is interested in information Bannon has as part of, first, the Trump campaign, then the Trump White House, as far as interaction with Russian individuals goes, and possible obstruction of the FBI investigation into Russian meddling. The Intelligence Committee is one of several entities investigating the Russia scandal. Bannon first testified before the Committee in January and refused to answer any of their questions, claiming executive privilege.
The subject of whether executive privilege applies to conversations that took place before Donald Trump became President or after Steve Bannon left the White House has been the point of contention between the two sides.
Schiff claims that during a hearing that took place last week, Bannon once again refused to answer the Committee’s questions, agreeing to respond only to twenty-five questions the White House authorized him to answer. According to Schiff, he answered “no” to all of them.
Bannon was subpoenaed after his first appearance before the Committee to compel him to cooperate, but that did little to persuade him. He pushed back his appearances three separate times prior to last Thursday.
His refusal to cooperate has even drawn the ire of Republican members of the body. Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) said of Bannon: “I think he should answer our questions.” “I’m not OK with” Bannon refusing to answer the Committee’s questions, said Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC). Rep. Schiff said on Friday that Bannon’s behavior left the body little option. “I think there really is no choice for our committee but to move forward with contempt,” he said.
Conaway, who is running the Russia investigation for the Committee, said his next step would be to discuss with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and House lawyers what the scope of executive privilege asserted by the White House would be.