Bannon Offers to Testify to Jan 6 Panel as Trump Due to Waive Executive Privilege

Donald Trump's former advisor was subpoenaed by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol Hill riot. He initially refused to comply, citing a Trump-imposed executive privilege, but has now reached out to the panel.

Steve Bannon has initiated talks with the House’s January 6 panel regarding setting a time and place for an interview, according to an e-mail from Bannon's lawyer Robert Costello first obtained by the Guardian.

His move came after former US President Donald Trump reportedly said that he would waive executive privilege if an agreement for Bannon to testify were reached.

In his e-mail, Costello alleged that Bannon was unable to comply with the panel's initial subpoena due to having been subject to executive privilege asserted by Trump over his testimony.

"President Trump has decided that it would be in the best interests of the American people to waive executive privilege for Stephen K. Bannon, to allow Mr. Bannon to comply with the subpoena issued by your Committee. Mr. Bannon is willing to, and indeed prefers, to testify at your public hearing," Costello wrote in the e-mail.

Nonetheless, the claim that Bannon's testimony was under executive privilege has been disputed by the Select Committee. One of the January 6 panel members, Zoe Lofgren, told CNN that "we will be hearing from him [Bannon]" and "there are many questions that we have for him.”

Bannon, who was not employed at the White House at the time of the January 6 events, spoke with Trump on the phone the night before, and has been one of his allies when it came to pushing forward the "election fraud" claim. His testimony is expected to be key in the panel’s investigation.

The former president has insisted that the 2020 presidential election was "rigged" - something that was one of his key talking points on January 6, 2021, when a massive crowd of people moved from his rally to Capitol Hill, breaching Congress and trying to prevent the certification of the election results which proclaimed Democrat Joe Biden the victor.

Trump, who vehemently denied any wrongdoing on that day, was later impeached for "inciting insurrection", only for the Senate to acquit him.

Bannon is one of the many witnesses subpoenaed by the Select Committee. He was charged by the Justice Department for refusing to comply with the subpoena, and is facing trial for contempt of Congress, with proceedings due to begin on July 18.