Rep. Jim Himes said Wednesday that the White House instructed Steve Bannon, President Trump’s former chief strategist, not to discuss his time in the administration, or the transition after the campaign.
“He was perfectly willing to answer questions about what happened during the campaign, which then of course we had a lot of those questions,” Mr. Himes, Connecticut Democrat, said on CNN.
Mr. Bannon appeared before the House Intelligence Committee — of which Mr. Himes is a member — as part of the committee’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
“This is a White House that has said there’s absolutely nothing there, that this is all a big hoax, that there was no collusion, and yet when they send Steve Bannon in front of the committee, they say, ’You can’t talk about anything related to your time at the White House or the transition,’ ” Mr. Himes said.
He added that if the White House prevents other witnesses from discussing their time in the campaign or transition, then the investigation will continue to drag on longer than either the White House or lawmakers would like.
Mr. Himes also said that Mr. Bannon was asked about certain things he said in the book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” by Michael Wolff. The book makes some controversial and questionable accusations about Mr. Trump and his team. The accuracy of the book has been called into question.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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