Lewandowski and Bannon would interview voluntarily and behind closed doors.
As part of the on-going probe into President Donald Trump’s alleged ties to Russia, the House Intelligence Committee sent a letter asking two of his former campaign officials to testify.
Steve Bannon, Trump’s former campaign CEO, and Corey Lewandowski, his former campaign manager, will testify voluntarily and behind closed doors, according to Bloomberg .
Although the letter didn’t detail the reason for the testimonies, it clarified that the purpose of the interview was for the Russia investigation.
For most of 2017, Congressional investigators and the Justice Department looked into Trump and his associates, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort whom a special counsel recently indicted.
Trump and his associates have denied any collusion during and after the 2016 presidential campaign.
Bannon, who joined the campaign after Manafort and Lewandowski, served as a liaison to a data analytics firm that reportedly approached Wikileaks, an organization with suspected Russian ties, about publishing former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s 33,000 deleted emails.
“We can confirm an approach by Cambridge Analytica and can confirm that it was rejected by WikiLeaks,” Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said earlier this year.
The Intelligence Committee interviewed Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, at the beginning of December after he came under fire for a meeting he had with a Russian attorney during the 2016 campaign.
During that meeting, Trump Jr. cited client privilege when he refused to tell investigators about his and his father’s conversation following that meeting.
Although Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), ranking member on the committee, said Trump Jr. confirmed discussing the meeting, Trump Jr. repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
While Congressional investigators continued their investigation, special counsel Robert Mueller likely pressed Flynn for more details after he pledged to cooperate as part of a plea deal .
Mueller started investigating Trump after he fired former FBI Director James Comey, raising suspicions that he tried to obstruct justice by removing the man leading an investigation into his alleged Russia ties.
Some cautioned against firing Mueller, suggesting it would create a political, if not constitutional, crisis.
As recently as Thursday, the White House said it had no intention of firing Mueller.
“We have no intention of firing Bob Mueller,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on Fox News. “We are continuing to work closely and cooperate with him. We look forward to seeing this hoax wrap up very soon.”
