Intel Dem decries White House 'gag order' after Bannon testimony
By Katie Bo Williams
01/16/18 09:00 PM EST

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday night slammed what he described as a "gag order by the White House" following testimony from President Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon before the panel amid its Russia probe.

Bannon refused to answer questions related to his time in the White House and on the transition team during 10 hours of testimony before the panel, according to lawmakers, cabining his responses to his stint on the campaign.

That limitation was at the request of the White House, ranking member Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told reporters when the interview broke on Tuesday evening.

Bannon’s counsel conferred with the White House after the committee issued a subpoena, Schiff said, “and was instructed by the White House to refuse again to answer any questions concerning the time during the transition and his time in the administration.”

“The scope of this assertion of privilege—if that’s what it is—is breathtaking,” Schiff said. “It goes well beyond anything we’ve seen in this investigation … This was effectively a gag order by the White House.”

The White House in a statement earlier in the day said it is “fully cooperative” with the ongoing investigation without addressing directly whether it had instructed Bannon not to answer certain questions.

“As with all congressional inquiries touching upon the White House, Congress must consult with the White House prior to obtaining confidential material,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.

“This is part of a judicially recognized process that goes back decades. We have been fully cooperative with these ongoing investigations and encourage the committees to work with us to find an appropriate accommodation in order to ensure Congress obtains information necessary to its legitimate interests.”

Bannon’s refusal to answer questions drew the ire of lawmakers from both parties —especially, multiple sources told The Hill, after Bannon indicated that he would not place the same restrictions in any testimony he gave to special counsel Robert Mueller.

“He doesn’t have any friends in that room,” one source said shortly prior to the breakup of the interview.

Sources described the meeting as a “total free-for-all” and “brutal.”

The White House also sought to limit Bannon’s testimony on any conversations he had with the president after his departure from the administration in August.

Bannon has since fallen out of favor with the president, at least publicly, after the publication of a controversial book about the Trump White House in which he is quoted as calling a key Trump Tower meeting involving the president’s eldest son and a Russian lawyer “treasonous.”

Still, Schiff said, “The witness declined to answer questions based on the instruction of the White House.”

The New York Times revealed earlier on Tuesday that the special counsel has obtained a separate, grand jury subpoena to force testimony from Bannon.

Bannon’s appearance before the committee was voluntary. He did not formally invoke any form of executive privilege, which as a non-administration official, Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) said, he would not be able to do.

“This witness is not an executive,” Conaway said. “He’s not in a position to be able to do that.”

The move to issue a subpoena during the middle of an interview is an unusual one for the House panel and is a break from how committee lawmakers have handled other witnesses who have declined to answer certain questions. Democrats have complained bitterly that Republicans have let recalcitrant witnesses off of the hook.

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http://thehill.com/homenews/house/369268...annon-testimony