消息人士周三称，前白宫战略师班农已和“通俄门”特别检察官穆勒的调查团队敲定约谈协议，而不前往大陪审团作证。2016年特朗普选总统选举、和他上任一个月时期，班农是特朗普的私人顾问，他被检察官穆勒的调查团队传唤，要求就通俄门做证。
Former White House strategist Steve Bannon has reached an agreement with US special Counsel Robert Mueller to be interviewed by Mueller’s investigators rather than appearing before a grand jury, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
Bannon, who was a close adviser during president Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign and in his first months in office, had been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in Mueller’s probe of links between Russia and Trump’s campaign.
But the anonymous source said Mueller offered Bannon the option of being interviewed instead, and that he accepted. It was unclear when the interview would take place.
An interview with prosecutors would allow Bannon to have an attorney present during his appearance, as lawyers are not permitted in grand jury rooms.
A spokesman for Mueller declined to comment on the agreement, first reported by CNN. A lawyer who represented Bannon in an appearance before the House of Representatives intelligence Committee on Tuesday could not be immediately reached.
Bannon was fired from his White House job in August as the president sought to bring more order to his staff operations.
Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski arrives to meet with the House Intelligence Committee, about their ongoing probe of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election, at the US Captiol in Washington, January 17, 2018. /Reuters Photo
Earlier this month, Trump attacked Bannon for comments he made to Michael Wolff, the author of a book highly critical of the president and his family. They included scathing remarks about Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, for meeting during the campaign with a Russian lawyer who was said to have damaging information on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Mueller is investigating any potential collusion by Trump’s campaign with Moscow in alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign. Russia denies such interference and Trump has denied any collusion.
According to a person familiar with the arrangement, the attorney who represented Bannon for Tuesday’s House appearance, William Burck, is not representing him in connection with Mueller’s investigation. The person said they did not believe Bannon had hired a counsel for that yet.
Two other Trump associates, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn, and former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, were due to appear before the House panel behind closed doors on Wednesday, congressional sources said.
