It was President Trump's decision to limit former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon's testimony this Tuesday in front of the House Intelligence Committee, based on legal advice he received from a key aide to White House Counsel Don McGahn, two people with knowledge of the matter told Foreign Policy on Thursday.
Deputy White House Counsel Uttam Dhillon concluded that there might be legitimate executive privilege claims to curb the testimony of former and current Trump aides, Foreign Policy reports, but the claims don't extend to providing information or testimony to Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Mitch McConnell won't seek reelectionSpeed Read The longest-serving Senate party leader is retiring
-
Trump reportedly wants to take over US Postal ServiceSpeed Read President Trump is making plans to disband the leadership of USPS and absorb the agency into his administration
-
Trump seeks to end New York's congestion pricingSpeed Read The MTA quickly filed a lawsuit to stop the move
-
Trump officials try to reverse DOGE-led firingsSpeed Read Mass firings by Elon Musk's team have included employees working on the H5N1 bird flu epidemic and US nuclear weapons programs
-
Trump blames Ukraine for war after US-Russia talksSpeed Read The US and Russia have agreed to work together on ending the Ukraine war — but President Trump has flipped America's approach
-
Musk's DOGE seeks access to IRS, Social Security filesSpeed Read If cleared, the Department of Government Efficiency would have access to tax returns, bank records and other highly personal information about most Americans
-
Senate confirms RFK Jr. as health secretarySpeed Read The noted vaccine skeptic is now in charge of America's massive public health system
-
Trump lays out plans for broad 'reciprocal' tariffsSpeed Read Tariffs imposed on countries that are deemed to be treating the US unfairly could ignite a global trade war and worsen American inflation
