President Trump’s ex-chief strategist Steve Bannon struck a deal Wednesday to be interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, avoiding the need to appear before a grand jury, according to multiple sources.
The move was widely seen as a sign the former member of the president’s inner circle is now cooperating with Mr. Mueller’s probe of alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Kremlin.
The combative strategist has seen events unfold rapidly since his fall from power after being quoted extensively in a tell-all book earlier this month calling the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and others “treasonous” for taking a meeting with Russians during the 2016 campaign seeking information on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Last week, FBI agents showed up at Mr. Bannon’s Washington home to serve him with a subpoena from Mr. Mueller.
On Tuesday, while he was spending almost 12 hours behind closed doors testifying to the House Intelligence Committee’s Russia probe, news broke of the Mueller subpoena. During the House hearing, Mr. Bannon refused to answer a wide range of questions about his time working for Mr. Trump during the presidential transition or in the White House, leading the committee chairman to authorize a second subpoena.
Afterward, committee members said that Mr. Bannon didn’t specifically assert the legal concept of “executive privilege” to avoid answering questions, but suggested that some of their questions brushed up against the idea that legally protects the president’s conversations. The White House acknowledged Wednesday it shared Mr. Bannon’s concerns, but the argument angered committee members from both parties.
On Wednesday, Rep. Trey Gowdy blasted Mr. Bannon for speaking to a book author but refusing to answer the committee’s questions.
“I am frustrated whenever people assert privileges that do not exist,” the South Carolina Republican told Fox News.
Led by Rep. Adam Schiff, committee Democrats said Mr. Bannon acted as if he were under a “gag order” from the White House.
On Wednesday, The Associated Press reported that Mr. Bannon’s lawyer, Bill Burck, had communicated by phone with White House attorneys as the House hearing was underway.
Later Wednesday, the White House pushed back hard against the notion the administration was attempting to control Mr. Bannon.
While defending the use of executive privilege, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that communication between Mr. Bannon’s lawyer and White House attorneys was “standard procedure.”
“Sometimes, they actually have a White House attorney present in the room,” Ms. Sanders said. “This time, it was something that was relayed via phone and, again, was following standard procedure for an instance like this, and something that will likely happen again on any other number of occasions, not just within this administration, but future administrations.”
Also on Wednesday, it was former Trump campaign aide Corey Lewandowski’s turn to testify behind closed doors on Capitol Hill. He has previously said he saw no signs of collusion with Russia at any time during his service in the campaign.
A status hearing for former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos was postponed for up to 90 days.
Mr. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to one count of lying to the FBI in October, revealing at the time that he had already been cooperating with Mr. Mueller’s probe.
While the White House dismissed him as a low-level volunteer, Mr. Papadopoulos has claimed that he was constantly in touch with high-level Trump campaign officials, including Mr. Bannon, as he corresponded with Russian officials.
• Dan Boylan can be reached at dboylan@washingtontimes.com.
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