History before the court

The Committee of the House of Representatives of the US Congress of Intelligence demanded that Stephen Bannon, former adviser to President Donald Trump, testify in court as part of the investigation of Russian intervention in the 2016 election. It is reported by The Hill.

The reason was the refusal of the ex-adviser during the closed meeting of the committee to answer questions about his work in the administration both during the transfer of power and at the beginning of Trump's presidency. In particular, Bannon claimed that he was forbidden to disclose information about his work in the administration. However, the representative of the White House said that the confidentiality of the correspondence and conversations of the president does not give the former adviser the right not to answer questions from the committee.

Prior to this, the US special prosecutor Robert Müller, who is investigating Russian intervention in the presidential election, also called Bannon to testify in court before the jury. According to the sources, the ex-adviser was discharged, since the FBI staff "could not get in contact with him." At the same time, the challenge to court does not mean that Bannon himself also appears in the case investigated by Müller.

On January 9, The Washington Post reported that Müller at a meeting with lawyers of the US president announced his intention to personally interrogate Trump . The special prosecutor has several issues related to the investigation, a source close to the investigation told. Interrogation may take place over the next weeks. According to the source, Trump himself is ready to answer Müller's questions to demonstrate that his headquarters was not connected with Russia before the presidential election. At the same time, his lawyers do not want the president to attend a personal interrogation without a preliminary list of issues.

Bannon was an adviser to the American president on strategic issues from January to August 2017. He was called one of the most influential administration employees. However, at the end of the summer, Bennon had a conflict with the head of the White House apparatus John Kelly and other officials, which the adviser filed a petition for a resignation.