Steve Bannon Says Willing To Testify Before Committee Jan. 6 After Trump Drops Executive Privilege Claims

“When you first received the subpoena to testify and produce documents, I invoked Executive Privilege. However, I have watched how unfairly you and others have been treated, have had to spend huge sums of money in legal fees, and all the trauma you must be going through out of love for your country and out of respect for the Office of the President,” Trump wrote in a letter. Saturday to Bannon, which was also obtained by CNN. “Therefore, if you come to an agreement on the time and place of your testimony, I will waive executive privilege for you, which allows you to come in and testify honestly and fairly,” Trump added, while continuing to decry the commission Trumpets and hacks”. Bannon was indicted last year on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress. He has argued that he was free to ignore the congressional subpoena in order to protect Trump’s potential privilege claims. But federal prosecutors and other legal experts argued the privilege did not apply to Bannon — who left his White House gig as chief strategist years before the Capitol uprising — and did not give him the authority to refuse to provide any document or testimony the Commission. Bannon’s team provided Trump’s new letter to the committee on the night of Jan. 6, along with a letter from attorney Bob Costello. “While Mr. Bannon has been steadfast in his beliefs, circumstances have now changed,” Costello wrote. “Mr. Bannon is willing, and prefers, to testify at your public hearing.” The January 6 committee was interested in talking to Bannon about his communications with Trump in December 2020, when Bannon reportedly urged him to focus on certifying the results of the January 6 presidential election. Committee members were also interested in Bannon’s comments in the run-up to the Capitol uprising, including a Jan. 5 podcast in which he predicted, “All hell is going to break loose tomorrow.” Bannon, who has pleaded not guilty to the contempt charges, was scheduled to stand trial on July 18. The testimony won’t necessarily exonerate him from the contempt charges he faces, so it’s unclear how his upcoming trial will be affected if Bannon hits the committee to testify. He will appear in court for a hearing on his case on Monday. A spokesman for the commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

title: “Steve Bannon Says Willing To Testify Before Committee Jan. 6 After Trump Drops Executive Privilege Claims " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-26” author: “David Carter”

“When you first received the subpoena to testify and produce documents, I invoked Executive Privilege. However, I have watched how unfairly you and others have been treated, have had to spend huge sums of money in legal fees, and all the trauma you must be going through out of love for your country and out of respect for the Office of the President,” Trump wrote in a letter. Saturday to Bannon, which was also obtained by CNN. “Therefore, if you come to an agreement on the time and place of your testimony, I will waive executive privilege for you, which allows you to come in and testify honestly and fairly,” Trump added, while continuing to decry the commission Trumpets and hacks”. Bannon was indicted last year on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress. He has argued that he was free to ignore the congressional subpoena in order to protect Trump’s potential privilege claims. But federal prosecutors and other legal experts argued the privilege did not apply to Bannon — who left his White House gig as chief strategist years before the Capitol uprising — and did not give him the authority to refuse to provide any document or testimony the Commission. Bannon’s team provided Trump’s new letter to the committee on the night of Jan. 6, along with a letter from attorney Bob Costello. “While Mr. Bannon has been steadfast in his beliefs, circumstances have now changed,” Costello wrote. “Mr. Bannon is willing, and prefers, to testify at your public hearing.” Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat who is on the Jan. 6 panel, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday’s “State of the Union” that the committee has not yet had a chance to discuss Bannon’s letter, but that ” I expect we will hear from him and there are many questions we have about him.” Lofgren, however, said public testimony from Bannon was unlikely, noting that the committee usually takes depositions. “This goes on for hours and hours. We want to get all our questions answered and you can’t do that live,” he said. The January 6 committee was interested in talking to Bannon about his communications with Trump in December 2020, when Bannon reportedly urged him to focus on certifying the results of the January 6 presidential election. Committee members were also interested in Bannon’s comments in the run-up to the Capitol uprising, including a Jan. 5 podcast in which he predicted, “All hell is going to break loose tomorrow.” Bannon, who has pleaded not guilty to the contempt charges, was scheduled to stand trial on July 18. The testimony won’t necessarily exonerate him from the contempt charges he faces, so it’s unclear how his upcoming trial will be affected if Bannon hits the committee to testify. He will appear in court for a hearing on his case on Monday. A spokesman for the commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This story has been updated with additional reaction. CNN’s Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.

title: “Steve Bannon Says Willing To Testify Before Committee Jan. 6 After Trump Drops Executive Privilege Claims " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-02” author: “David Kern”

What’s new: The Justice Department said Trump’s attorney, Justin Clark, told the DOJ on June 29 “that the former President has never invoked executive privilege with respect to specific information or material” related to Bannon, according to a motion filed in District Court in DC early Monday. and acquired by Hugo Lowell of the Guardian. Why it matters: Last November, a federal grand jury indicted Bannon on two counts of contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena issued by the panel on Jan. 6. The big picture: In the letter, Trump recounted how he had invoked executive privilege when Bannon first received his subpoena from the committee.

However, he said he decided to reverse his stance after watching “how unfairly” Bannon and others were treated, “having to spend huge amounts of money on legal fees and all the trauma you have to go through for the love of country.” If a time and place could be agreed upon for the testimony, Trump wrote, he would waive executive privilege, “which allows you to come in and testify truthfully and fairly as requested by the Unselected Committee of Political Thugs and Hacks.”

In a letter to Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who chairs the Jan. 6 committee, a lawyer for Bannon wrote that his client would be willing to testify and would prefer to do so in a public hearing.

“Mr. Bannon has not had a change of heart or attitude,” wrote Robert Costello, but noted that “circumstances have now changed,” referring to Trump’s decision to waive executive privilege.

Status: The damning testimony from the Jan. 6 committee has drawn millions of viewers and seeks to highlight the direct links between Trump and the Jan. 6 violence. Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with details from the DOJ court filing.