Bannon's meeting with members of Congress before the Jan 6 attack can't be protected by Trump: legal expert

President Donald Trump is attempting to assert executive privilege for a man who wasn't even working for the White House and for conversations that didn't include the ex-president.

That's what NBC News reporter Scott MacFarlane tweeted on Monday evening as Steve Bannon prepared to refuse a Congressional subpoena and risk being held in criminal contempt of Congress.

One of the pieces of information that the Jan. 6 House Select Committee is requesting is information about a meeting that Bannon reportedly had at Trump Tower with members of Congress on Jan. 5.

The Committee specified in their release of the documents that the information being sought doesn't necessarily concern executive privilege. Thus, Trump can't block Bannon from answering questions about any members of Congress he worked with around Jan. 6.

"Anyone with whom he communicated by any means with respect to any aspect of the planning, objectives, conduct, or participation in the January 6, 2021 rally, including but not limited to Boris Epshteyn, Kashyap Patel, and Ezra Cohen Watnick," quoted MacFarlane from the Congressional documents.

"the financing or fundraising to assist any individual's or organization's travel to or accommodation in Washington, D.C., to attend or participate in the January 5, 2021 rally," the documents continue. It also cites "The 'War Room' podcast, insofar as at any time he communicated through it statements referring or relating to the January 6, 2021 rally, including all statements concerning its planning, objectives, purpose, organization, message, or sponsorship."

Those citations prompted former U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance to note that none of these questions are protected by executive privilege and that Trump has no hope of blocking testimony on them.

See the tweets below: