Washington: Former strategist of Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, has informed the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol Riots that he would testify.
Last year, Bannon had refused to comply with the panel’s subpoena and was also indicted after defying the demand.
In a letter, Robert Costello, an attorney for Bannon, told committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson on Saturday that the ex-White House chief strategist “is willing to, indeed prefers, to testify at your public hearing.”
It further said, “While Mr. Bannon has been steadfast in his convictions, circumstances have now changed.”
The lawyer said that while former President Donald Trump invoked executive privilege over his testimony and documents, the former president “has decided that it would be in the best interests of the American people to waive executive privilege for” Bannon, allowing him to comply with the select committee’s subpoena, CBS News reported.
Trump had sent a letter to Costello and Bannon on Saturday saying he would waive executive privilege if Bannon and the panel reached an agreement “on a time and place for your testimony.”
While the former US President had claimed to have invoked executive privilege, District Judge Carl Nichols rejected Bannon’s argument that as a former White House official he did not have obligation to follow the select committee’s subpoena when executive privilege has been asserted.
He further urged the court to dismiss the criminal contempt case against him. The request was denied last month.
The select committee has conducted a nearly year-long investigation into how Trump supporters invaded Congress on 6 January 2021 to disrupt lawmakers as they certified Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory, BBC reported.
