WASHINGTON — A lawyer for Stephen K. Bannon, the former chief strategist to President Donald J. Trump, told the special House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot on Thursday that he would not comply with a subpoena, raising the prospect of a legal battle for crucial evidence in the inquiry.
In a letter to the panel, Robert Costello, Mr. Bannon’s lawyer, said a lawyer for Mr. Trump had asked some of the aides and advisers facing subpoenas to invoke immunity and refrain from turning over documents that might be protected under executive privilege.
“It is therefore clear to us that since the executive privileges belong to President Trump, and he has, through his counsel, announced his intention to assert those executive privileges enumerated abovewe must accept his direction and honor his invocation of executive privilege,” Mr. Costello wrote. “As such, until these issues are resolved, we are unable to respond to your request for documents and testimony.”
Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the select committee, has threatened criminal referrals for witnesses who do not comply with the subpoenas, and said the panel expected witnesses “to cooperate fully with our probe.”