Steve Bannon ‘stonewalls’ House intelligence’s Russia questions, inviting contempt charge

Republican lawmakers on Thursday weighed whether to hold former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress after he declined to answer questions for a second time as part of the House intelligence committee’s Russia probe.

Bannon visited Capitol Hill to take questions from the panel behind closed doors, but would only answer 25 questions that had been pre-approved by the White House. 

He answered each question “no” and told the committee he was not authorized to elaborate, according to lawmakers of both parties. 

Florida Representative Thomas Rooney said Tuesday that if Bannon didn’t cooperate with the panel and they didn’t hold him in contempt, that would set a bad precedent.

“For not just our committee but every committee, that [subpoenas] don’t mean anything, that it’s just a hollow threat,” said Rooney, who was deputised to help run the committee’s Russia probe.