Bannon’s involvement was conveyed in a letter late Saturday from his lawyer, lawmakers said, as the panel prepares to air some of the most dramatic revelations it has made this week against Trump in what could be its final hearing. hearings. “I expect we will hear from him and there are a lot of questions we have about him,” said Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California. She and other members of the committee said in televised interviews Sunday that they plan to sit Bannon down for a private interview, which they usually conduct in a sworn deposition. Bannon has been one of Trump’s staunchest allies in his refusal to testify before the committee, leading to two criminal charges of contempt of Congress last year for resisting a committee subpoena. He has argued that his testimony is protected by Trump’s claim of executive privilege. The committee argues that such a claim is dubious because Trump had fired Bannon from the White House in 2017, and Bannon was therefore a private individual when he was advising the then-president ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, uprising. But in recent days, as the former president grew frustrated with what he denounced as a one-sided presentation from the panel of seven Democrats and two Republicans, Trump said he would drop that privilege claim, according to a letter Saturday to Bannon’s lawyer. Bannon appears with then-President Donald Trump at the White House in January 2017. (Evan Vucci/Associated Press) “If you come to an agreement as to 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 as requested by the unselected committee of political thugs and hacks,” Trump wrote. The committee hearing Thursday afternoon will examine the three-plus hour period when Trump failed to act as a mob of supporters stormed the Capitol. It will be the first prime-time audition since its June 9 debut, which was watched by 20 million people. A hearing on Tuesday will focus on the plotting and planning of the riot by white nationalist groups such as the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters, and will also highlight testimony received Friday from former White House counsel Pat Cipollone. It comes after surprise testimony last month from former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson that provided the most compelling evidence yet that Trump could be connected to a federal crime. Since then, the committee has seen an influx of new information and insider tips. Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland suggested that Bannon “changed his mind and after watching, probably, all these people show up, including Cassidy Hutchinson, he decided he wanted to go in, and if he wants to go in, I’m sure the committee will was very interested to hear from him.’ WATCHES | Cassidy Hutchinson’s explosive testimony:
Trump was determined to join the Jan. 6 mob, ex-White House aide says
A last-minute committee hearing on Jan. 6 featured dramatic and damning testimony from former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who said then-President Donald Trump was determined to join the mob, denied the presence of armed rioters and ordered the removal of metal detectors. Bannon’s trial on the two criminal charges is July 18. A hearing in his case was scheduled for Monday in federal court in Washington. Bannon is seeking to have his trial delayed or at least dropped. It’s unclear how much Bannon plans to cooperate. He has expressed a preference to appear before the committee at a public hearing. The committee makes it clear that he must first sit down for a private interview, usually under oath. It is also possible that he may choose to appear and then refuse to answer questions, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. “The way we’ve treated every witness is the same, they come in, they talk to the committee there,” Raskin said. “If they’re going to testify, they’re 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 of the events planned for January 6 before they took place.” He cited as an example comments he made on his podcast the day before the riot. “It’s not going to happen the way you think it’s going to happen. OK, it’s going to be extremely different. All I can say is go ahead,” Bannon said on this podcast. “All hell is going to break loose tomorrow… So many people said, ‘Man, if I was in a revolution, I’d be in Washington.’ Well, this is your time in history.”
