Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon finally made his return appearance before the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday morning. But just because Bannon was back in the chair doesn’t mean he was any more open to answering questions. In fact, Bannon would only respond to 25 carefully prescribed questions that had been pre-approved by the White House. The answer to every one of these questions was simply the word, “No.” Even on those points, Bannon would only answer if the question was asked in a precise way, with no follow-ups.
Outside of the 25 “No’s,” Bannon claimed executive privilege over everything before, during, and after his time in the White House. His refusal to talk follows a letter from the White House explaining Donald Trump’s position that his view of executive privilege includes the period before he was the executive.
The White House sent a letter to Capitol Hill late Wednesday laying out its explanation for why Trump's transition period falls under its authority to assert executive privilege, a move intended to shield Bannon from answering questions about that time period, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
House members of both parties were on record that they would hold Bannon in contempt if he failed to show up for Thursday’s thrice-delayed testimony. It’s not clear whether Bannon taking the stand to say the same word 25 times in response to questions prewritten by the White House is enough of a token gesture that the House won’t act.
But no matter how the committee votes, Bannon’s—and Trump’s—contempt for Congress could not be more clear.
“He refused to answer almost all the questions,” Adam Schiff of California, the panel’s top Democrat, told reporters. “The breadth of that claim of executive privilege is breathtaking and unsupportable and, indeed, at times, it was laughable.”