Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist, has agreed to meet with Special Counsel Investigator Robert Mueller and his team. By doing so, he has avoided testifying in front of the grand jury, at least for now.
This comes one day after Bannon was privately questioned in a meeting with the House Intelligence Committee that lasted for over 10 hours, which he voluntarily accepted an invitation to. During the interview, he was issued a subpoena from lawmakers after failing to answer questions about his transition and time in the White House.
The same day, Bannon was subpoenaed by Mueller. Of the multiple officials from the Trump administration interviewed by the special council, Bannon is the first one to have been issued a subpoena.
“He refused to answer a broad range of questions concerning any meeting, conversation, or discussion that took place either during the transition or while he was with the White House,” said Adam Schiff, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee in an appearance on CNN.
During the meeting with the House Intelligence Committee, Bannon’s attorney relayed questions to the White House. In turn, the White House counsel’s office communicated to the attorney that Bannon was not to answer certain questions, according to The Guardian (UK).
The date of the meeting between Bannon and Mueller’s investigators has yet to be determined. Bannon is more likely to cooperate with the special council, according to an unnamed source not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
