Bannon refuses to answer Congress panel

WASHINGTON - Steve Bannon, former US President Donald Trump adviser, on Tuesday refused to answer questions from a congressional committee probing allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US election, saying he was under orders from the White House not to.

Russia has denied meddling in the election and Trump has denied any collusion between his campaign and Moscow.

Bannon was quizzed voluntarily behind closed doors by the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, the first time he has testified in the probe investigating whether Trump's campaign colluded with Russia to influence the elections.

It was unlikely to be Bannon's last such testimony: The New York Times and The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that Bannon has been subpoenaed by Robert Mueller, a special counsel investigating the same issue.

That made Bannon the first person from Trump's inner circle to receive a grand jury subpoena from Mueller in the probe, which is also looking at whether Trump has tried to obstruct the investigation.

When appearing before the Intelligence Committee, Bannon refused to answer a number of questions, citing "executive privilege" allowing the president to keep information from the public.

A hard-line nationalist who sought to shake up US domestic and foreign policy, Bannon, 64, was forced out as Trump's chief strategist in August.

Fire and Fury

The unrestricted testimony of Bannon could be explosive: He had a front-row seat as chief executive of the 2016 election campaign in its final months, and as a top policy adviser in the first seven months of the administration.

A book released last week, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, by Michael Wolff, quoted Bannon as saying that a pre-election meeting involving Trump's eldest son Donald Jr and a foreign lawyer was "treasonous".

Last week Bannon stepped down from Breitbart News, which he had helped make a powerful conservative force, and he lost the support of the Mercer family, wealthy conservative power brokers.

Underscoring the break, Trump said Bannon had "lost his mind" and branded him "Sloppy Steve" via Twitter.

Afp - Reuters - Ap

(China Daily 01/18/2018 page12)