Bannon plans to cooperate with Russia probe: reports

Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon reportedly plans to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team of investigators when he appears for questioning. 

NBC News, citing a source close to Bannon, reported early Wednesday that Bannon intends to “answer any questions” asked by the special counsel. Similarly, Axios reported that Bannon “intends to fully cooperate with Mueller.”

Reports emerged on Tuesday that Bannon had received a grand jury subpoena from Mueller’s office. The subpoena compels the former Breitbart News chief to testify, though reports indicate that investigators could ultimately opt to talk to Bannon in private.

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News of the subpoena came as Bannon testified before the House Intelligence Committee, where he said that the White House had instructed him not to talk about his work in the White House or on the president’s transition team.

The Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena after Bannon declined to answer investigators’ questions. 

Mueller is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign conspired with Moscow to disrupt and influence the presidential race. President Trump has denied any wrongdoing, and has called the special counsel’s probe a “witch hunt.”

Bannon was recently ousted from his top position at Breitbart after author Michael Wolff quoted him speaking critically of Trump and his family in “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.”

In that book, Bannon suggests that a June 2016 meeting between Trump’s eldest son and a Russian lawyer was “treasonous” and that Trump himself may have known about the meeting well before it was revealed to the public.