Steve Bannon takes the Russiagate stage, strikes deal with Mueller — is he about to shiv Team Trump?
UPDATE: Well, well, well…
Steve Bannon has struck a deal with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team and will be interviewed by prosecutors instead of testifying before the grand jury, two people familiar with the process told CNN. He is expected to cooperate with the special counsel, the sources said.
The sources did not say when the interview will take place or if the subpoena would be withdrawn.
Bannon, the former White House chief strategist for President Donald Trump, is expected to talk openly to Mueller’s team. Bannon’s attorney told the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday that Bannon would answer questions when he goes to the special counsel because executive privilege would not apply, according to one of the sources.
The NY Times broke the story as Steve Bannon was testifying before the House Intelligence Committee:
Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump’s former chief strategist, was subpoenaed last week by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, to testify before a grand jury as part of the investigation into possible links between Mr. Trump’s associates and Russia, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
NBC added a notable detail this morning:
FBI agents showed up at Steve Bannon’s Washington home last week intent on serving him with a subpoena to appear before a grand jury investigating possible ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia, according to a source familiar with the proceedings.
The agents were unaware at the time that Bannon had retained Washington lawyer William Burck just hours earlier, according to two people familiar with the events that took place on Jan. 9. Once redirected, the agents sent the order to Burck, who is also representing two other witnesses in the probe being led by special counsel Robert Mueller, a former director of the FBI.
Those two figures are former Trump chief of staff Reince Priebus and White House counsel Don McGahn.
Bannon was not being forthcoming with the Intel Committee, and given the quite public falling out between Bannon and former game show host Donald Trump, the move surprised a few::
President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon faced angry lawmakers from both parties during a contentious interview that stretched more than 10 hours on Tuesday, as he was hit with subpoenas on multiple fronts and was accused by a top Democrat of agreeing to a White House “gag order.”
Executive Privilege Lite! So committee chairman (and notorious Trump lackey) Rep. David “Recused” Nunes subpoenaed him on the spot. It didn’t accomplish much:
President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon declined on Tuesday to comply with a subpoena ordering him to answer questions from a U.S. House intelligence panel about his time at the White House as part of its investigation into allegations of Russian interference in the U.S. election.
Bannon will be back before the committee tomorrow, but based on Betsy Woodruff’s scoop from late yesterday, we doubt Bannon is going to give Nunes and the Intel Committee a whole lot:
[E]xecutive privilege — the president’s right to keep certain information from the public so he can have frank conversations with aides — will not keep Steve Bannon from sharing information with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Advertisement“Mueller will hear everything Bannon has to say,” said the source, who is familiar with Bannon’s thinking.
Axios’ Jonathan Swan got this nugget:
The source told Axios’ Jonathan Swan that the White House has placed zero restrictions on Bannon talking to special counsel Bob Mueller: “He can say whatever the hell he wants to say to him about whatever topic that he wants.”
Keep in mind that Bannon has been abandoned not only by Trump but by his former employer, the deplorable Breitbart.com fake news site, and his billionaire sponsors, Robert and Rebekah Mercer. And while Bannon may be flamboyant and had some high-profile campaign failures, he is no idiot. He has nothing to lose, has plenty of axes to grind (as we noted yesterday), and knows that Congress is no place to wield an ax.
Stay tuned.
