Steve Bannon to defy House subpoena because he 'stands with Trump'

Stephen Bannon, who served as chief strategist to former President Donald Trump, reportedly plans to defy a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Bannon informed the House select committee, which is probing the riot at the Capitol by supporters of Trump, that he will not cooperate with a subpoena and provide relevant documents to lawmakers, CNN reported on Friday. A source told CNN that Bannon communicated to them that he "stands with Trump."

A letter from Bannon's attorney reported by The New York Times' Maggie Haberman stated that he would defy the subpoena because Trump has "announced his intention to assert" executive privilege, though Haberman noted that Bannon was not working for Trump on Jan. 6.

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"We will comply with the directions of the courts, when and if they rule on these claims of both executive and attorney client privileges," Bannon's attorney says.

Previously, a lawyer for Trump reportedly sent a letter to four of his former aides and advisers, including Bannon, telling them not to cooperate with the select committee's investigation into the Capitol riot. A lawyer for the former president claimed that records about Jan. 6 are protected "from disclosure by the executive and other privileges, including among others the presidential communications, deliberative process, and attorney-client privileges," The Washington Post reported.

According to CNN, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has also responded to the House committee, but it wasn't immediately clear what his response was. Trump's lawyers had reportedly also told former aides Dan Scavino and Kash Patel not to cooperate with the subpoenas.